Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle(Lepidochelys kempii)

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the smallest of the sea turtles. Their shell is almost round, or heart-shaped, and light-olive or grey colored. These sea turtles use Louisiana waters as a “foraging” area, filling up on crabs and fish before they migrate to their nesting grounds. They mature quickly compared to other sea turtles and can nest somewhere between 10 to 12 years old.

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles sometimes nest in mass events, with hundreds or thousands of sea turtles nesting at once. These events are called arribadas, which means arrival in Spanish. They are one of the only sea turtles that nest during the daytime, mostly on beaches found in Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas and on the eastern Gulf coast of Mexico. Their limited range includes the Gulf of Mexico and some portions of the Southeast Atlantic (Florida and other states).