The Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, named after fisherman Richard M. Kemp who first reported the species, is the smallest and one of the most endangered sea turtle species. These turtles have a dark grey-green carapace with a yellowish-brown plastron, and their carapace is typically equal in width and length, featuring five pairs of costal scutes. Their triangular-shaped head has a slightly hooked beak, and the front flippers each possess one claw, while the back flippers may have one or two.

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Kemp’s Ridleys have an average lifespan of 30 to 50 years and reach sexual maturity between 10 and 15 years of age. Females lay two to three clutches of 100 eggs, which incubate for 50 to 60 days. Their primary diet consists of swimming crabs, although they also consume fish, jellyfish, and various mollusks.

The majority of Kemp’s Ridley nesting occurs on beaches in the western Gulf of Mexico, although they are also found along the U.S. Atlantic coast, from Florida to New England, in the Azores, waters off Morocco, the Mediterranean Sea, and other parts of the Atlantic Basin. They are commonly found in estuaries, particularly near or within shallow seagrass beds.

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Kemp’s Ridley turtles face numerous threats, including bycatch in fishing gear, climate change, direct collection of turtles and eggs, nesting habitat loss and degradation, marine debris, ocean pollution, predation of eggs and hatchlings, and vessel strikes.