Sea Turtle on Southern California Beach Becomes First Ever to Nest on US West Coast
This week, an olive ridley crawled up on Huntington Beach in Southern California, becoming the first-ever sea turtle to nest in California. The breathtaking news is making waves, with articles appearing across the continent, including in national newspapers such as The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Adding to the excitement, either the same turtle or possibly a different one was seen a few days later and a few miles south on Seal Beach in Orange County.
The warming waters of this year’s El Niño may be the explanation. Other marine animals normally found farther south in warmer Mexican waters have also been seen in California this year, including whale sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and even a yellow-bellied sea snake.
But the noteworthy sighting may not be all “good news.” We also can’t rule out the impacts of human-caused climate change. It is occurring more quickly than animals may be able to adapt, and it is supercharging climatic events like El Niño and hurricanes.
Though this is the first time a sea turtle has nested on the US West Coast, it is not the first time olive ridleys have been found in California. In 2002, an olive ridley came ashore in Tomales Bay in Marin County and was documented by Turtle Island staffer Reuven Walder, who coincidentally was sunbathing with his family when the rare event occurred. The sighting was celebrated in a front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle. Though this individual did not appear injured and left of its own volition, most other sightings have been strandings (injured or dead turtles), possibly immobile and carried by currents hundreds or thousands of miles from their normal range.
An additional California sighting was also documented in a scientific publication (T. Steiner and R. Walder, Marine Turtle Newsletter 107:9–10, 2005) of another apparently healthy turtle that became ensnared by sport fishers off the Marin County coast. The publication also reviewed other reports of stranded (dead or injured) olive ridleys as far north as Alaska. Again in 2009, an olive ridley stranded on Stinson Beach (Marin County), malnourished but alive. The animal was treated by vets at The Marine Mammal Center for eventual release back into the wild.
If you see a sea turtle in California, please call the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Stranding Hotline at (562) 506-4315 and send me an email with a photo at TSteiner@tirn.net. Sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act and can only be legally handled by authorized personnel.
