Marine Living

The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle weighs about 100 pounds, on average. This sea turtle has a rounded, grayish-greenish carapace that is about 2 feet long. Its plastron (bottom shell) is yellowish in color.

Kemp's ridley sea turtles live from the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of Florida and up the Atlantic coast through New England. There are also records of Kemp's ridley sea turtles near the Azores, Morocco and in the Mediterranean Sea.

Kemp's ridley sea turtles primarily eat crabs, but also eat fish, jellyfish and mollusks.

Kemp's ridley sea turtles are endangered. Ninety-five percent of the Kemp's ridley turtles nest on beaches in Mexico. Egg harvesting was a major threat to the species until the 1960's, when egg harvesting became illegal. The population appears to be slowly recovering.

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