Forty-five baby sea turtles hatched safely on Phu Quy Island off the south-central province of Binh Thuan on Monday after their eggs were found and protected by the local community for 51 days.

The baby sea turtles came out from a cluster of eggs laid by their mother on the beach of Trieu Duong Bay on June 27, according to Bui The Nhan, Party chief and chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Quy District, which administers the island.

The mother turtle, which weighed about 100 kilograms, returned to the sea after laying her eggs.

Local authorities were alerted of the situation after some locals discovered the eggs and made a report.

Understanding that the eggs belonged to a protected species of sea turtles that had just come back to the island to lay eggs after a long time, the local community worked together to protect the eggs from harm.

They put up a warning sign and fenced off the beach area around the nest.

After 51 days, the small eggs hatched into 45 healthy baby sea turtles on Monday.

Employees from the Phu Quy Island District Aquatic Resource Protection Station transferred the baby sea turtles to Hon Tranh Island, around one kilometer from Phu Quy, and safely returned them to the ocean.

The authorities decided not to release them on Phu Quy Island as there was a construction site nearby, which could cause the baby turtles to be stranded.

Le Huu Tri, a member of the team involved in the process, said he was fortunate to have the rare chance of returning the sea turtles to their natural habitat.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!