Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)
The Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) is a sea turtle found in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast, listed Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- Common name
- Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
- Scientific name
- Lepidochelys kempii
- Conservation status (IUCN Red List)
- Critically Endangered
- Habitat
- Gulf of Mexico & Atlantic coast
- Edition
- TT-08: Sand Dollar
The smallest and rarest sea turtle. Known for the 'arribada' where thousands of females storm the same beach on the same day to nest.
It is Turtle Tuesday edition TT-08, “Sand Dollar”, drawn by hand and free to download.
This drawing is one of the 26 in Color the Shell, the Turtle Tuesday turtle coloring book: the same line art in black and white, with one true fact per turtle.
The smallest sea turtle. The rarest sea turtle. Topped out at about 200 nesting females in 1985. Two hundred. Not two hundred thousand. Two hundred, total. The comeback kid of conservation. Still critically endangered, still fighting, still showing up.
They do something called an arribada, Spanish for ‘arrival,’ where thousands of females storm the same beach on the same day to nest in unison. In 1947, Andrés Herrera filmed one arribada of an estimated 40,000 turtles in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Nobody believed it until the film surfaced decades later, by which point egg harvesting and bycatch had nearly wiped out the population.
The Smallest Turtle’s Biggest Fight
In 1947, Andrés Herrera filmed something nobody believed: an estimated 40,000 Kemp’s ridleys arriving on one beach, all on the same day. The film sat in obscurity for decades. By the time scientists saw it, the species was in freefall.
Egg collecting, shrimp nets and coastal building took a heavy toll. By 1985, researchers counted fewer than 200 nesting females worldwide.
Mexico and the U.S. launched a bi-national recovery program: beach patrols, mandatory turtle excluder devices, and egg incubation that hand-reared thousands of hatchlings.
It’s working. Slowly. Nesting numbers have climbed from that 200-individual nadir to several thousand annually. They’re still critically endangered, but the math can change.
Key Moments
- 1947: Andrés Herrera films an estimated 40,000 Kemp’s ridleys nesting at once
- 1966: The Herrera film resurfaces; scientists grasp the species’ historical abundance
- 1978: Listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
- 1985: Population bottoms out at roughly 200 nesting females worldwide
- 2000s to now: Bi-national recovery pushes nesting counts into the thousands
Fun Facts
- Arribada: Spanish for ‘arrival’: thousands nesting on the same beach, same day
- Smallest Sea Turtle: Adults weigh about 35 to 45 kg (80 to 100 lbs); you could pick one up, though please don’t
- Caught on Film: A 1947 home movie captured an estimated 40,000 nesting on one beach in a single day
- Daytime Nesters: One of the only sea turtles that nests during the day
- Bi-National Effort: Mexico and the U.S. jointly manage recovery
On the Red List
- Kemp’s ridley nests fell to a record low of 702 in 1985, then grew about 15 percent a year through 2009, NOAA Fisheries reports.
Mini FAQ
How do they all show up on the same day?
Nobody’s entirely sure. Leading theories: wind patterns, lunar cycles, pheromone signaling.
Are they actually recovering?
Yes, cautiously, from ~200 nesting females in 1985 to several thousand a year now.
Why ‘Kemp’s’?
Named after Richard Kemp, a Florida fisherman who submitted the species for identification in 1880.
Art by Lee Eisenbarth, CC BY 4.0: how to use this art.
Sources: IUCN Red List, Wikipedia.