Over 200 rare sea turtle eggs rescued from SoCal beaches ahead of Hurricane Polo

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - In an unprecedented wildlife rescue operation, more than 200 rare sea turtle eggs have been excavated and relocated from Southern California beaches to protect them from incoming storm surges and extreme high tides driven by Hurricane Polo.

What we know:

Historic Nesting

Wildlife officials discovered 204 Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs across two separate nests—one in Huntington Beach and another in Seal Beach. This marks the first recorded sea turtle nesting on a California beach.

Initially, wildlife experts installed protective fencing and signs around the nesting sites to allow the eggs to incubate naturally in the sand. However, shifting weather forecasts forced emergency intervention.

Officials warned that a combination of high surf and a major ocean swell known as a Kelvin Wave threatened to wash over the berms and submerge the nests.

"As we look forward to the forecast... we're anticipating conditions where we can see waves coming up over the berm, high tides in the six-foot range, and pooling of water for long periods of time," said Trevor McDonald of Huntington Beach Lifeguards.

Recognizing that the rising ocean waters would destroy the nests, local, state, and federal agencies made the call to move the eggs.

"The nests were going to be destroyed," said Jonathan Snyder with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It was a dynamic situation and we had to make some quick decisions."

Eggs safely removed 

The delicate extraction process required care and precision. Rescuers carefully removed the 204 eggs one by one, keeping them surrounded by their native sand, and packed them into specialized incubation containers.

What they're saying:

"Though simplistic in their design, a Styrofoam cooler does provide what's needed for maintaining the integrity of those eggs," explained Dr. Lance Adams, veterinarian at the Aquarium of the Pacific. "It provides them with humidity [and] temperature control, all while we transported them to the aquarium."

The eggs will now incubate safely under close monitoring at the Aquarium of the Pacific for the next 40 to 60 days. Once the baby turtles hatch, marine biologists face a critical window to release them back into the wild at their original beach location.

"Once they hatch, hatchlings have an internal yolk sac, which is basically a battery supply that gives them energy to do what’s called a 'frenzy swim' for 48 hours," said Jeff Seminoff with NOAA Sea Turtle Research.

"The hatchlings come out of the sand to go to the ocean at night... so when they’re going down to the water, you see them and they look like little marathon runners."
Biologists will continue to monitor the incubation process in Long Beach until the hatchlings are ready for their swim into the Pacific.