Fifty-four olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings entered the ocean before dawn Saturday, Nov. 14, after nearly two months of care at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific. Their release followed the first documented nesting by the tropical species in Southern California, where 204 eggs were discovered at Huntington Beach and Seal Beach in September.
The aquarium and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the released turtles came from the Seal Beach nest, whose eggs were incubated for 58 days. All 54 reached the water, aquarium veterinary services director Dr. Lance Adams said at a Saturday news conference. The Huntington Beach eggs had shown no signs of hatching as of that day.
The first clues appeared Thursday, when staff saw a depression and cracks in the sand inside the incubation container, indicating hatching beneath the surface. Active emergence began around 5 or 6 p.m. Friday, Adams said, with the first turtle appearing at about 7:15 p.m. It remained alone on the surface for roughly two hours before most of the others emerged together during the following two hours.
Officials chose a release setting with little light or human disturbance and kept the plans from the public to protect the hatchlings during their first hours. Images were recorded from a distance with red or infrared lighting because flash could interfere with the natural process. After the turtles entered the surf, staff waited and checked the shoreline for any that had washed back. Any weaker hatchlings found there would have returned to the aquarium to recover before another release.
Once in the ocean, hatchlings enter what wildlife officials call a frenzy period, swimming continuously for 24 to 48 hours using energy from their remaining absorbed egg yolk sac. Officials said temperatures above 68 degrees are ideal for ocean releases at nesting beaches. Local ocean temperatures remained in the 70s.
The September discoveries included 100 eggs in Huntington Beach and 104 in Seal Beach. Beachgoers spotted both nests and alerted authorities, who initially protected them in place. Photographs suggest two different turtles laid the eggs. The nests are believed to represent the first confirmed nesting record for the species on the mainland West Coast of the United States.
With hurricane swell and high tides forecast, officials transferred the eggs to the aquarium on Sept. 25. Staff maintained humidity between 90% and 100%, checked the incubators in person about five times daily and used a live camera for continuous monitoring. About 50 eggs remained in the Seal Beach nest Saturday. Once further emergence is ruled out, staff will excavate it and examine the remaining eggs for development.
Olive ridleys generally inhabit tropical waters in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. Experts believe water temperatures, currents and prey may have helped draw the nesting turtles to Southern California. Jonathan Snyder of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said warmer water was only part of the explanation, pointing to decades of conservation work that helped populations increase substantially in parts of their range.
The species reaches maturity at around 14 years, leaving it too early to know whether these hatchlings will eventually nest on Southern California beaches. Anyone who sees baby sea turtles or strandings following the release should notify a lifeguard or call NOAA’s West Coast Stranding Hotline at 562-506-4315.
