The Kemp’s Ridley Sea turtle is among the smallest of Sea Turtles, with a shell length of 24 to 30 inches. It is also among the most endangered and nests only in the Gulf of Mexico. So, it is very rare that you will ever see this turtle nesting. Although, it is possible that you may see one swimming.

The Kemps Ridley turtle has five pairs of costal plates on its back, and its carapace is often as wide as it is long. Adult Kemp Ridley’s weigh between 85 and 100 pounds. The carapace is dark gray or grayish-brown in the young, olive green in adults. The Kemps Ridley is considered to be the rarest and most endangered of all sea turtles. In the U.S the juveniles range from Texas to Maine but they are unknown on the pacific coast.

The Kemps Ridley is a carnivore and its favorite food is blue crabs. They also eat jellyfish, clams, fish, and mussels. It is estimated that it takes about seven to fifteen years for the turtle to mature. Both male and female Kemps Ridley will meet off the beach to mate. The females will remain just offshore and crawl onto the beaches only under certain conditions: high surf and strong winds from the Northeast between April and June.

When there were thousand of them, the females all nested on the beach within hours of each other, then returned to the water. These mass nesting’s are called arribadas (derived from the Spanish word for arrivals). They occur several times a season. What the mysterious cues are that finally lure the Kemp’s Ridley to the shore, and its significance, are not well understood. Today with only a few hundred females left, the arribadas are fitful and small, and many turtles nest singly. Furthermore the Kemps Ridley nests during the day, not at night as other turtles do.