Chinese scientists have kicked off a research program that uses satellite technology to track endangered species of turtles in the South China Sea and collect data crucial to their protection.

Scientists installed a satellite information launcher on the back of a turtle on Saturday after it swam to the shore to lay eggs at the Huidong Turtle Bay, a state-level nature reserve in South China's Guangdong Province and the only place left in Asia in recent decades where turtles lay eggs.

The turtle was then released and returned to the sea.

Early Monday, this 80-year-old turtle, named "Haigang-No.1", sent back information reporting its whereabouts and conditions.

The research program, the first of its kind in China, is being jointly carried out by the Guangdong Provincial Maritime and Fishery Bureau, the South China Sea Maritime Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the South China Endangered Animals Research Institute.

Experts said that the research is of great significance for protecting the turtles and for conducting research on maritime conditions such as ocean currents.

They explained that the research can help locate the swimming route of the turtles, what water temperature and which water layer the turtles like to live in and their behavior patterns.

In the past, to track the turtles a piece of metal was fixed on to a turtle, and the scientific workers had to judge the swimming route of the turtles and the area they live from the place where they were found again.

Experts said that at present, the number of turtles in the South China Sea is around 4,000.

Huidong Turtle Bay used to receive more than 100 turtles laying eggs annually. However, the number of turtles coming back each year dropped sharply after 1990, with the average standing at 50.

In one year, just four turtles returned to lay eggs at the bay.

China has issued laws on the protection of turtles and banned poaching of the endangered species.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/22/2001)