MashGet

LOS ANGELES — The population of endangered green sea turtles at SeaWorld in San Diego grew by 82 in October when the eggs hatched on Shipwreck Beach without human help.

There hasn't been such happy turtle news at SeaWorld since 2003, when 21 sea turtles got an assist from park staff, said Tim Downing, assistant curator of fishes.

This time, the park let nature take its course and didn't incubate the eggs. The babies started poking through their ping pong-sized eggs on Oct. 5. Since then, they have been getting a diet of squid, krill, shrimp and special pellets.