Dispatch: two olive ridley sea turtles nest in Orange County, the first documented natural sea turtle nesting on the U.S. West Coast.

Dispatch, we have two unexpected arrivals on the Orange County shoreline, and they brought eggs. CNN reports that two olive ridley sea turtles have nested on Southern California beaches, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls "the first-ever documented natural sea turtle nesting on the US West Coast." Olive ridleys are among the smallest sea turtles, with olive-green, heart-shaped shells, and they are typically found in tropical parts of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the first was seen digging a nest near Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Orange County. A few days later, another nesting olive ridley turned up near the Huntington Beach Pier. At first officials thought it was the same turtle, but an expert comparison showed there were two. Why here? Jeffrey Seminoff, who leads the Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment Program at NOAA, said the turtles were very likely influenced by the current super El Nino, which has driven up ocean temperatures. He said sea turtles navigate "using multiple internal and environmental cues," including an internal compass he likened to an on-board GPS, along with temperature, wave direction and time of year. He believes sustained warm water and "malfunctioning GPS" likely led them to think they were coming ashore at nesting beaches in Mexico. Another theory is that Pacific storms pushed them off course. Scientists are trying to work out whether this is an anomaly or the start of a longer-term expansion of their range. The nest sites are fenced off, and an interagency team will watch them for the next 45 to 60 days, the typical incubation period. So two turtles set a course for Mexico and ended up in Orange County, and they made the best of it. Plenty of people have done the same. Over.