Kemp's ridley sea turtle

Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), also called the commonly the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, Kemp's ridley turtle, and Kemp's ridley, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. It is the rarest and smallest species of sea turtle and is also the world's most endangered sea turtle. It belongs to the genus Lepidochelys, which also includes the olive ridley sea turtle.

These turtles mainly live in the Gulf of Mexico, but they also swim into the Atlantic Ocean. However, rising temperatures are changing where they can live, making them more vulnerable when the weather gets very cold. To protect them, they are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and many people work hard to help their numbers grow again.

Unfortunately, human actions such as habitat destruction, climate change, and oil spills make it difficult for Kemp's ridley sea turtles to survive. Because of these challenges, conservation efforts are very important to ensure these amazing animals continue to live in our oceans.

Taxonomy

This turtle is called Kemp's ridley because a man named Richard Moore Kemp sent the first example to a scientist at Harvard. The word "ridley" is not known to come from anywhere special. Before this name became popular, people sometimes called this turtle the "bastard turtle".

One story says that some fishermen called it the "heartbreak turtle" because they saw these turtles die after being flipped onto their backs. The fishermen thought the turtles died from sadness, like having a broken heart.

Description

Kemp's ridley is the smallest of all sea turtle species. When fully grown, they measure about 58–70 cm (23–28 in) long and weigh 36–45 kg (80–100 lb). They have a special body shape with flipper-like front limbs and a beak. Adult Kemp's ridley turtles can reach up to 75 cm (30 in) in length and weigh up to 50 kg (110 lb). Their shell, called a carapace, is usually olive-gray and almost as wide as it is long.

These turtles change color as they grow. Baby turtles are almost entirely dark purple, while adult turtles have a yellow-green or white underside and a grey-green shell. They have a triangular-shaped head with a hooked beak. Unlike other sea turtles, Kemp's ridley turtles nest during the day, making them unique among sea turtles.

Distribution

The Kemp's ridley sea turtle lives in a few special places. Most adult turtles stay in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in shallow waters near the coast. Female turtles are usually found from the southern coast of Florida to the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, while male turtles often stay closer to beaches in Texas, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.

Younger turtles, called juveniles, often travel to the Atlantic Ocean. They can be found along the coast of North America from southern Florida up to Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and sometimes even further. Because of warmer sea temperatures, these trips are getting longer. There have been rare sightings of these turtles in places like Newfoundland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, but these are usually younger turtles exploring new areas.

Feeding and life history

Kemp's ridley turtle eats mollusks, crustaceans like floating crabs and shrimp, jellyfish, fish, algae or seaweed, and sea urchins. Young turtles usually float on the ocean surface to eat, while older ones swim near the ocean floor, mostly eating crabs. These turtles may dive longer at night to find food.

Most female turtles return each year to one special beach in Mexico, called Rancho Nuevo in Tamaulipas, to lay their eggs. They come in very large groups, called arribadas, meaning "arrivals" in Spanish. Male turtles stay closer to where they mate.

Young turtles live among floating sargassum seaweed for a few years before moving around the northwest Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico as they grow.

These turtles are special because they are the only sea turtles that usually lay their eggs during the day. Their nesting season is from April to August, mainly on a beach in Tamaulipas and on Padre Island in Texas. Females lay between 100 and 120 eggs in each nest, and the babies hatch after 6 to 8 weeks. The sex of the babies depends on how warm it is while the eggs are hatching. If it’s cooler, most babies will be male.

Conservation

Kemp's ridley sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In the past, people took their eggs and hunted the turtles, but now the biggest dangers are losing their homes, pollution, and getting caught in shrimping nets.

People have been working to protect these turtles since 1966. In the United States, they were listed as endangered in 1970. Special devices called turtle excluder devices help keep turtles safe from fishing nets. These devices let small fish through but help turtles escape.

In September 2007, workers found a record number of nests in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 2020, five turtles were released back into the sea after being cared for. As of June 13, 2025, there were 383 nests on the Texas coast, which is more than ever before.

Oil spills

Some Kemp's ridley sea turtles were moved from Mexico after a big oil leak from the Ixtoc 1 rig in 1979. This leak put lots of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

After the accident on the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, many sea turtles died, and most of them were Kemp's ridleys. Scientists and helpers worked to save these turtles in Grand Isle. They helped clean and care for many oiled turtles, most of which were Kemp's ridleys.

To help protect the turtles, scientists took some nests and kept the eggs safe in special places. In one case, eggs from Florida were kept at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and many of them hatched. The baby turtles were then released onto beaches in Alabama and Florida.

Scientists have also studied how oil affects these turtles. They found that oil can make it harder for the turtles to have babies.