Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle by: Nicole Tedjasaputra

Description and ecology: The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, also known as Lepidochelys kempii, was named after Richard Kemp who discovered and studied the reptile. Being the smallest marine turtle in the entire world,, their eggs can only reach up to 45 mm in diameter and 40 grams in weight. Once they hatch they range from 42-48 mm and weigh between 15 to 20 grams; their small size makes them very vulnerable. As an adult, each turtle can weigh between 70 to 100 pounds and are about 60-65 centimeters.
If you keep in mind that an average sea turtle is about 400 pounds and 75 centimeters, then Kemp's are significantly smaller.An interesting fact about the turtle is their shell changes colors throughout their lifetime.The turtle shells are composed of two parts: the carapace and plastron. The carapace is the upper portion of the shell and the plastron is the bottom half, both which are made of a fusion of bones. As a hatchling, the carapace and plastron are a grey-blackish color, but as they mature the plastron becomes a yellowish-white tone. Once the Kemp's reach adulthood, the top of their shell is a lighter grey-olive and their plastron yellowish white. Kemp's ridleys are usually submerged under water their entire life, but come up to the surface to get oxygen. They are carnivorous and have really strong jaws that crush their food. They feed in sandy, muddy waters close to the bottom of the ocean or in shallow waters. Their diet consists of crabs, clams, mussels, shrimp, fish, sea urchins, squid, and jellyfish.

Geographic and population changes: Kemp's ridley sea turtles have a very restricted geographic range. They particularly inhabit beaches on the western Gulf of Mexico, specifically Tamaulipas, Mexico.Historically, other coastal areas of the Gulf, the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, and parts of the United States have been home to them as well. These areas are less frequent for turtles to nest and their range decline forces them into small area availability. Kemp's ridley sea turtles experienced a humongous decline between the late 1940's and the mid-1980's. In 1947, evidence of about 42,000 Kemp's ridleys nesting in a single day came out in a video. However, about 33,000 of them were collected for local villages, around 80% of the nests. As this continued, many turtles failed to survive. The decline of hatchlings and eggs has caused major population change. Sadly, in 1985 the lowest number of nests was recorded at 702. Since then extreme conservation methods were implemented and their population started to recover in the 1990's reaching a 15% increase through 2009. Today, Kemp's ridleys have experienced early stages of recovery.

Listing date and type of listing:

On December 2, 1970, the Kemp's ridley was listed as endangered with the Fish and Wildlife Service.Since then, they have been federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. However, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the Kemp's ridley as critically endangered. Another organization that helps the turtles is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international trade of  all sea turtles and their parts.

Cause of listing and main threats to its continued existence: There are several threats which cause the decline of Kemp's ridley sea turtles- primarily, human activity and disruption. These human threats include, the exploitation of eggs, killing of adults for meat, loss of habitat, pollution, climate change, and by-catch fishing from fishing nets. Kemp's ridleys nest on beaches and are shallow or poorly disguised, making them easy to spot. Not only do humans collect the eggs, but animals, such as coyotes and birds, prey on the hatchlings when they are making their way back to the ocean. Another large threat are the local people who capture the turtles for their meat and trade it as a delicacy. Sea turtles rely on beaches to nest, but coastal development and vehicular traffic have destroyed nesting sites. Aside from destroyed nesting sites, some of their feeding grounds in coral reefs and seaweed beds have been disturbed too. Trash-filled oceans pose a threat to the turtles, but light pollution from civilization has affected them as well; this keeps them from nesting. If you haven't noticed, these threats have a huge commonality- issues with nesting. Climate change is another concern involving the survival of Kemp's ridley sea turtles because they are highly influenced by their environment. So much so that water temperatures can affect the sex of the offspring, causing abnormal rations of fewer males. Now more than ever, turtles are dying because of incidental capture by fisheries. They get caught in the net and can not resurface to get air, so they die from drowning. These are the main threats to Kemp's ridley.

Description of recovery plan: Kemp's ridley sea turtles are on the brink of return because of successful plans in conservation. Several important factors of their recovery are based on informing humans and the public on how their actions impact the turtles. In their pursuit of recovery, protecting nesting sites has been huge. Conservationists track the migration patterns of the turtles in order to be able to better understand their ecology. Efforts to inform the public of this endangered species includes improving and supporting trade controls to restrict slaughtering their meat. As stated before, fisheries can really harm the turtles when harvesting other marine life by being bycatch to them. The way that we improve this is by reducing it and promoting smart fishing.

Personal action:  To continue the success of Kemp's ridley sea turtles, it is important to support organizations that promote conservation, such as Sea World or the World Wildlife Fund- WWF. On the WWF's official website, they provide donation offers for building awareness. A Kemp's ridley sea turtle's survival is heavily based on human interaction and activity; the best way to reduce that is by informing them. Making our world knowledgeable of these concerns will ultimately increase the species. Whether it's donating or spreading the word, supporting Kemp's ridley sea turtles will help recover them.


Sources and cool other links:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle/

http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=kemps-ridley

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/kempsridley_revision2_with%20signature.pdfhttp://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle.htm

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/marine_turtles/kemps_ridley_turtle/

http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/kemps-ridley-sea-turtle.htm

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/kempsridley.htm

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Amphibians-Reptiles-and-Fish/Sea-Turtles/Kemps-Ridley-Turtle.aspx

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle