Sea turtles explore new, urban frontier

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One might expect a sea turtle to live at sea. But Times staff writer Louis Sahagun has the story of a ‘breakaway’ colony that seems to prefer the San Gabriel River.

Green sea turtles usually have tropical haunts -- teeming coral reefs or white sandy beaches where they lay eggs -- but these chunky titans live more than a mile upstream in one of Southern California’s most ecologically degraded rivers.

Little is known about the colony of at least six urban sea turtles. But a joint study by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Aquarium of the Pacific aims to determine, among other things, what they’re doing in there.

‘Right now, it’s a small group of what might be considered oddball turtles,’ said Peter Dutton, a senior researcher with the fisheries service. ‘But we have a lot to learn about them. Are they part of a more complex sea-turtle migration dynamic than we ever imagined, or just lost wanderers?’

Scientists also want to know how the federally endangered animals are adapting to the unique challenges they face in the 100-yard-wide river channel at the Los Angeles County-Orange County line, next to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Haynes Generating Station. Those challenges include speedboats, water skiers, baited hooks, urban runoff, tons of garbage and harassment.