Sea turtles lay eggs on a beach in California

Two sea turtles have laid eggs on beaches in Huntington Beach, a city in California in the United States. NOAA, the US government agency^*1 for the ocean and weather, says this is the first time anyone has recorded a sea turtle laying eggs on the West Coast of the United States.

On September 16, 2026, lifeguards^*2 from the Huntington Beach Fire Department got a call about a sea turtle near Surfside and Seal Beach. The caller said the turtle was hurt. When the lifeguards arrived, they found the turtle laying eggs. Three days later, on September 19, another turtle was found laying eggs near the Huntington Beach Pier, a long walkway that goes out over the sea.

The turtles are olive ridley sea turtles^*3. They are the smallest kind of sea turtle. They weigh up to 100 pounds, or about 45 kilograms, and they are 2.5 to 3 feet long, or about 76 to 91 centimeters. In the Pacific Ocean, these turtles usually lay their eggs only in Mexico, Central America and Panama. This is the first time they have laid eggs in the United States.

Both nests are now surrounded by permanent fences, and signs have been put up. People who see a hurt sea turtle can call the city's hotline^*4 at (562) 506-4315.

Sea turtle eggs usually take 45 to 60 days to hatch^*5. A team will keep watching the nests until then.

1. *1 agency: a part of the government that does one kind of job
2. *2 lifeguards: people whose job is to keep swimmers safe at a beach
3. *3 olive ridley sea turtles: a kind of small sea turtle with a green-gray shell
4. *4 hotline: a phone number people can call to report a problem
5. *5 hatch: when a baby animal breaks out of its egg