The first sea turtle eggs known to be laid on California beaches are nearing the time they could hatch, the Los Angeles Times and CBS Los Angeles report. The 204 olive ridley eggs are being kept at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

One olive ridley turtle laid eggs near the Surfside area of Seal Beach, and a second laid eggs about eight miles south on Huntington Beach, the Los Angeles Times reports. Saturday marks 45 days since the first clutch was laid. Staff moved the eggs to the aquarium in late September, just before high tides flooded the nests.

The species usually hatches after 45 to 60 days, the Los Angeles Times reports. A hatching would be a first for the West Coast. Before September, the farthest north known nest was about 700 miles south, in Mexico's Baja California Sur.

An extreme marine heat wave and a strong El Niño have warmed Southern California waters, bringing them closer to the turtles' usual nesting grounds, the Los Angeles Times reports.

No one knows if the eggs are developing normally, or even if they are fertilized. "We remain optimistic, but also realistic," said Dr. Lance Adams, the aquarium's director of veterinary medicine, CBS Los Angeles reports. The best case, he said, would be roughly a quarter to a half of the eggs hatching.

If the sand above the eggs begins to settle, a sign hatching has started, the eggs will be kept dark until evening so the hatchlings save energy for their release, Adams said, according to the Los Angeles Times. No hatching had been reported in either outlet's latest story.

What we know: The 204 eggs have reached the start of the usual hatching window.
What we don't: Whether any of the eggs will hatch.