Last month more than 400 of the creatures arrived near Changdao Island. Local fishermen say seals always land on the Diaoyu Islet, now known by local people as Seal Reef.

At high tide the animals bathe in the sun and when the weather gets really warm there are even more of them. Sometimes they pile on top of one another, then go to sleep.

Seals, one of more than 130 marine mammals in the world, are under state protection in China. In China there are five kinds of seals, including the Larga and the harbor seal.

Oceanographers say the seals at Changdao come from the country’s Liaodong Peninsula, where the Dalian Larga Seal Protection Area has been set up.

The animals stay at Changdao between March and June to breed. They then return to the Sea of Ochotsk off the north coast of Japan for the summer.

Seals pass the islets of Changdao County every year, but it is rare for so many of them to stay there.

Professor Wu Yunfei from Qingdao Ocean University, who arrived on the isles on May 2, said Changdao was the seal gathering place with the lowest latitude. “This is the result of efforts by local fishery resources development departments and environment protection,” he said.

Sun Guanghui, deputy director of Yantai Tourism Bureau, said protecting the creatures is the top priority.

The Tourism Bureau in Changdao County has set up a special zone to protect the seals. Tourist yachts and fishing boats are not allowed to enter the area.

(China Daily 05/08/2001)