Rare Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Nest on San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura County Lost Amid High Swell, the County's First Recorded Natural Nesting
Ventura, Ventura County — A rare sea turtle nest on San Buenaventura State Beach was lost after exceptionally high swell and tides exposed the spot near the Ventura Pier, officials reported on November 13. On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the nest was lost.
Early this month, wildlife agencies confirmed the discovery of an olive ridley sea turtle nest. It marked the first-ever recorded natural nesting in Ventura County and the northernmost nest for the species, which normally sticks to areas farther south in Mexico.
Officials said that even if the nest had been left unexposed, sand temperatures recently recorded on the Ventura beach were well below those typically needed by olive ridley turtles. Studies show olive ridley hatchlings survive at sand temperatures of 77 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, while temperatures recorded at the Ventura nest were 64.4 to 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and embryos exposed below that mark are unlikely to survive.
Just weeks before the nest was first discovered in Ventura, wildlife officials confirmed the first-ever recorded natural nesting for any sea turtle species on the U.S. West Coast. Two olive ridley turtles nested in Orange County in September: the first was spotted digging a nest and laying eggs near Seal Beach, and days later a second turtle was discovered nesting near the Huntington Beach Pier, about 8 miles away.
In late September, officials said hazardous surf and high tides prompted a team to relocate eggs from the Orange County nests. Biologists collected more than 200 eggs and took them to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, where they were expected to be incubated in a temperature-controlled environment and, if viable, to hatch around mid-November.
In Ventura, a team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California State Parks collected a portion of the eggs on Friday and planned to send them to a designated repository for scientific evaluation. The data collection equipment, fencing and signs were also removed because of the waves.
Ventura resident Joel Racine was on a walk Friday morning when he saw a team taking down ropes and signs around the nesting site, and said the spot where the nest had been looked washed away. Sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and officials asked community members who see a sea turtle on the beach to notify local lifeguards or report the sighting to the NOAA West Coast Stranding Hotline at 562-506-4315.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：文图拉县 San Buenaventura State Beach 的海滩与海岸线。来源：Wikimedia Commons — Junkyardsparkle, CC0，维基共享资源。 / Photo: The beach and coastline at San Buenaventura State Beach, Ventura County. Credit: Wikimedia Commons — Junkyardsparkle, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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