The population of endangered spotted seals in China has seen steady growth, with four cubs newly born, three in Yantai City of east China's Shandong Province, and one in Xining City of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Under top-class national protection in China, the phoca largha, also known as the spotted seal, is the only pinniped marine mammal to breed in Chinese waters.

Three spotted seal cubs have been growing well since they were born in early February at the Dongpaotai Scenic Area in Yantai.

The adorable cubs, born from Feb 1 to Feb 9, are now in good health.

The fluffy cubs follow their mothers, playing in the water one moment and basking in the sun on the shore the next.

"On the days of their birth, the cubs met with tourists. The second one, in particular, was born during heavy snowfall in Yantai. Tourists all thought 'blizzard' was quite nice, so they decided to name the cub 'blizzard'," said Tao Zhiqiang, a staff member at the scenic area.

In addition, the first artificially bred spotted seal cub on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau was born in Xining at 14:00 on Wednesday.

Currently, both the spotted seal mother and her adorable cub are in good physical condition.

This newborn cub is female, weighing 7.8 kilograms and measuring 66 centimeters in length.