An olive ridley nested on a Ventura beach, the farthest north on record

An olive ridley sea turtle nested on San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura, the Los Angeles Times reported on November 3, 2026. A passerby alerted California State Parks on Sunday. The state called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for sea turtles on land. Officials fenced the clutch between the shoreline and the boardwalk. Ventura resident Julie Scorsatto Weyers found the marked nest while walking on Tuesday.

It is the third naturally occurring sea turtle nest documented on the U.S. West Coast. The first two, in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach in September, were moved to the Aquarium of the Pacific ahead of storm surf and are nearing the end of incubation. Fish and Wildlife said there is no plan to move the Ventura eggs. The agency favors leaving this nest in place and watching it through the usual 45- to 60-day incubation, and it asked the public to keep a respectful distance. Before this September, the farthest known northern nest was about 700 miles south of Orange County, in Baja California Sur. The Times said the Ventura nest now holds that record. Hatchlings are not guaranteed. The eggs have not been disturbed to check them.