For Pu Bingmei, what began as love for the sea has transformed into a lifelong mission that keeps the ocean clean, saves stranded whales, and inspires more people to join the cause.

Growing up in the arid lands of Northwest China, the 39-year-old always harbored a longing for the sea.

"I still remember the first time I saw the sea — the crystal-clear water, with fish gliding beneath the surface, gave me the impulse to jump in and swim," said Pu, recalling her first arrival in Sanya, Hainan province, for college in 2007.

However, as a frequent visitor to the seaside, she gradually noticed that some bays began to emit foul odors, with garbage piling up and the sand turning dark and muddy. Pu realized that she had to do something to remedy the situation, starting with weekly volunteer cleanups during her college years. She has now dedicated 16 years to full-time work at Blue Ribbon Ocean Conservation Association.

The association, initially comprising fewer than 10 members, operated on a simple belief — the more garbage collected from beaches, the less would end up in the ocean. However, as their efforts continued, they began to notice various types of waste washing ashore, prompting an investigation into their origins. Through beach litter monitoring, the association identified problems like insufficient trash bins and inadequate collection frequencies, and offered targeted suggestions to the local government.

In 2013, the association launched a project in Meilian, a small fishing village in Sanya, where villagers traditionally relied on fishing for their livelihood, leaving behind discarded nets and growing piles of marine debris.

"At first, our focus was on encouraging villagers to pick up garbage, sort it, and deliver it to designated collection points, while explaining to them the importance of these actions," Pu said, adding that poor households can also exchange their garbage for small payments.

However, her extensive experience in ecological protection made her realize the unsustainability of fishing. Leveraging her background in tourism management, she found a new path to protect the sea while generating income.

Pu persuaded villagers to stop using fine-mesh nets for fishing and to sell some of their fishing boats. She introduced health and wellness tourism initiatives, which drove an economic transformation by establishing over 200 homestays. This enabled young villagers, who previously preferred to work away from home, to find employment opportunities nearby.

For Pu, marine conservation goes beyond just cleaning beaches; it's also about saving the lives of marine mammals.

Rescuing marine life requires specialized knowledge and skills. As more members of the public contacted the association for help after encountering stranded marine animals, Pu and her colleagues traveled to other regions for training and established a rescue team.

However, rescuing stranded animals — especially cetaceans — is not an easy task. Their bodies are adapted solely for floating in water. Once stranded on land, their skeletons cannot support their weight, leading to severe compression of internal organs and irreversible internal injuries, which may not be apparent on the surface.

In December 2017, a 300-kilogram injured sperm whale was found stranded on a beach in Sanya. Pu's team rushed to the scene, where residents and tourists also assisted. Although they continuously poured water over the whale in an effort to keep it alive, it stopped breathing during transport that evening.

The team accumulated experience through each rescue mission and shared their knowledge with the public. They educated fishermen on proper rescue practices, emphasizing the importance of never attempting to push a stranded animal back into the sea, as this could cause secondary injuries. Additionally, they provided training for firefighters and divers, equipping them with emergency rescue kits — a waterproof canvas bag containing essential supplies such as folding stretchers, bath towels, and ropes.

With joint efforts from the community, the rescue of a male short-finned pilot whale — a national second-class protected animal — in 2024 became a significant success. Initially unable to maintain balance, the whale gradually learned to swim and eat on its own. About 145 days after its rescue, it was successfully released back into the wild.

"What struck me most was the growing environmental and ecological awareness among the public,"Pu said. She recalled how, in the early days, most people joined activities for small gifts, but now they participate out of genuine initiative. Citing the pilot whale's rescue, in a bid to prevent the pilot whale from tipping over and drowning, more than 100 members from the association voluntarily took turns around the clock, holding the whale upright in the rescue pool.

"This is also the first successful rescue case of a short-finned pilot whale in China," Pu said with pride, adding that when traveling to Iraq for exchanges, people from countries in the Gulf region expressed their appreciation for the rescue experience she shared.

"The oceans are connected. From the simple act of picking up a piece of trash to inspiring more people to protect the ocean, it is actual actions and global cooperation that truly make a difference," Pu added.