Sea Turtle Nest Protection Measure Under Consideration In North Orange County

SEAL BEACH, CA — Experts at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach planned a news conference Friday to offer an update on the endangered sea turtle nests left on two Orange County beaches.

A sea turtle nesting site was found on Sept. 16 near Seal Beach, and an olive ridley turtle laid eggs three days later near the Huntington Beach Pier.

Sections of the beaches are closed to the public, with netting covering the specific spots where the eggs were buried.

Experts later determined that the eggs had been laid by two different turtles.

If the eggs hatch, baby turtles will be making their perilous journey into the water in 45 to 60 days, experts explained.

According to NOAA, olive ridley turtles are the smallest of the sea turtles, with adults weighing up to 100 pounds and growing between two and three feet in length.

"They are estimated to live about 30-50 years," an agency post said. "These sea turtles are found worldwide, primarily in the tropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. Major Pacific nesting populations span Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. While occasionally seen in Southern California following warm currents, this species has never been documented to nest in the United States."

The public is advised to give nesting sites plenty of space, and not disturb the fencing or signage.

Friday's briefing comes as a wildlife expert revealed how she got a view of a potential climate change-fueled trend in the Southland six years ago when a group of boys discovered a handful of sea turtle eggs at Huntington Beach, one of two places were sea turtles have left eggs. Those eggs failed to hatch after being removed from the shoreline, Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center former CEO Debbie McGuire told Patch. DNA tests later revealed that the sea turtle eggs in question were the same olive ridley sea turtle, she said.

Read: Sea Turtle Eggs Laid Near Seal Beach Safety In Question: Is OC Their Long-Term Nesting Ground?

Dr. Cali Turner Tomaszewicz, a research biologist with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, conducted a photo ID analysis to tell the two turtles apart. She compared body shape, the number and location of barnacles, and each turtle’s scute pattern – the unique arrangement of the large scales on a turtle’s shell, much like a human fingerprint. Anyone who finds a stranded turtle can call the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Stranding Hotline at 562-506-4315.

Sightings of sea turtles can be reported using the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Facebook account at facebook.com/NOAAFisheriesWestCoast.