Sea Creatures 101: Sea Turtles: Kemps Ridley

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Dec 1, 2002

Looking at you with a wary eye, just to the right of this article, is Aggie. She's a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle that lives at Underwater Adventures, an aquarium at the Mall of America. I've been pointing out Aggie (her formal name is Agatha) to guests at the aquarium for four years now. My knowledge of Kemp's Ridleys is spotty at best. I can tell you that they are endangered, that the name of the turtle comes from a Mr. Kemp who discovered them, and that they live around 40 years. I can tell you that Aggie's personality is very different from Calypso's (one of our Loggerhead sea turtles). Aggie is more aggressive-a fighter, and territorial. Calypso is more passive, and seems more people-friendly.

That was about all I knew -until I wrote this article. As I write these articles on sea turtles, I'm growing in my knowledge of them and have the opportunity to share interesting things about them with you. Let's start with the name- Kemp's Ridley. In 1880, Richard Kemp, a fisherman interested in animals, came across carcasses of an unusual turtle near his home in Key West, Florida. He sent the carcasses to Harvard University. The scientist who received them felt that Mr. Kemp should be given the honor of naming the turtle. This is the quote from the scientist, written around 1883: "About three years ago, Richard M. Kemp of Florida directed my attention to a peculiar Turtle... In consideration of the great interest Mr. Kemp takes in matters pertaining to natural history, it is most appropriate that the species he has been the means of bringing into notice should bear his name." No one seems to know where the Ridley part came from, although some think that it's in reference to "riddles"-meaning that the turtle is a riddle, or mystery.

Kemp's Ridleys are the smallest of the sea turtles, with a length of about two feet and weighing around 95 pounds. They can be found on the beach near Rancho Nuevo in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In 1947, 40,000 Kemp's Ridleys were filmed nesting at one time on the beach. Today, the nesting population of Kemp's Ridleys at Tamaulipas is closer to 900. The reasons for the declining population are similar to the Loggerheads' decline-with one difference. In the 1940s the residents of Rancho Nuevo named the large group of nesting Kemp's Ridleys "arribadas" (arrival). They captured and killed tens of thousands of these turtles, cooking the flesh of the turtle and selling the shells. They made leather out of the skins, and took the eggs from the nests. These people couldn't have known that thirty years down the road these turtles could cease to exist. In 1966 the Mexican government stopped the harvesting of Kemp's Ridleys. They became an Endangered Species in 1970. For more on the Endangered Species Act and conservation efforts, click on the links below: