First Sea Turtle Hatchling Release on the U.S. West Coast: Dozens of Olive Ridleys From the Seal Beach Nest Enter the Ocean After 58 Days
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced on Saturday morning, November 14, that some of the olive ridley sea turtle eggs from a nest in Seal Beach, in Orange County, California, had successfully hatched after a 58-day incubation period, and that staff and partners released the hatchlings into the ocean in the dark early hours of Saturday, where light and human disturbance were minimal. The agencies involved described it as the first release of sea turtle hatchlings on the U.S. West Coast.
The released hatchlings came from the Seal Beach nest. Other eggs that have not yet hatched remain in incubation.
On September 16 and 19, two olive ridley turtles nested near the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge and on a beach in Huntington Beach, the first confirmed natural sea turtle nesting ever recorded on the U.S. West Coast. Because high surf and tides threatened the nests, biologists collected the eggs early on September 25, 104 from Seal Beach and 100 from Huntington Beach, 204 in total, and transferred them to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, where they were incubated in a temperature-controlled environment and closely monitored.
In a related development in the same Southern California nesting season, an olive ridley nest in Ventura County was lost to high swell on November 13, a contrast to the Orange County hatchlings that reached the ocean.
Sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Officials ask anyone who sees a sea turtle on the beach to notify local lifeguards or report the sighting to the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Stranding Hotline at 562-506-4315.
(Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一只榄蠵龟在沙滩上（资料图）。美国鱼类及野生动物管理局发布，公共领域。 / Photo: An olive ridley sea turtle on a beach (file photo). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain.
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- 2026-11-14First Sea Turtle Hatchling Release on the U.S. West Coast: Dozens of Olive Ridleys From the Seal Beach Nest Enter the Ocean After 58 DaysThis story
