KEMPS RIDLEY SEA TURTLES

1
KEMPS RIDLEY SEA TURTLES

• (LEPIDOCHELYS KEMPI)

2
Presented by THE GULF OFFICE SEA TURTLE
RESTORATION PROJECTAND HEART (HELP ENDANGERED
ANIMALS-RIDLEY TURTLES)For comments or
questions, E-mail Carole_at_seaturtles.org
3
HATCHLING TO ADULT
4
Kemps ridley facts

• Latin Name Lepidochelys kempii
• Family Name Cheloniidae (Sea Turtle)
• Related Species One of seven types of sea
  turtles swim in U.S. waters.
• Gulf of Mexico Species Kemps ridley,
  loggerhead, green, hawksbill and leatherback
• Named for biologist Richard Kemp
• .

5
CHARACTERISTICS

• Appearance Shell is wide, gray and
  heart-shaped. Males have tails extending well
  beyond margin of shell.
• Size The Kemp's ridley sea turtle is the
  smallest of the sea turtles. It is 23-29 inches
  long and weighs between 70 and 95 pounds.
• Life Span 30-50 years

6
REPTILES AS ANCIENT ANIMALS

• Sea turtles and other reptiles lived during the
  time of the dinosaurs
• Turtle (Chelonia) is one of four remaining orders

7
MEET ARCHELON!

• Huge sea turtle about the size of a car
• Not a dinosaur but lived during that time
• Lived in the seas in what is now North America
• Fossils have been found in Kansas and South
  Dakota

8
A TURTLES PROTECTION!

• SHELL PROTECTS
• SHELL IS TWO BONY PLATES
• TOP SHELL CARAPACE
• BOTTOM SHELL - PLASTRON

• COVERED BY PLATES MADE OF KERATIN OR SCUTES
• SAME SUBSTANCE IN FINGERNAILS AND HAIR
• HELMETS DESIGNED LIKE A SHELL!

9
FOOD AND EATING

• Kemps ridleys favorite foods are blue crabs,
  mollusks, shrimp, snails, sea urchins, sea stars,
  jellyfish, fish and sometimes plants such as sea
  grasses.
• Sea turtles have no teeth but use their beak and
  bony ridge to tear food.

10
CAN TURTLES HEAR?

• Turtles have no outer ear and skin covers the
  inner ear structure.
• They can feel vibrations.

11
HABITAT TYPE

• Shallow coastal waters, open ocean and sandy,
  undisturbed beaches
• Some Kemps ridleys are tracked by satellite to
  see where they go.

12
NESTING FACTS

• Kemps ridleys are the only sea turtles that nest
  in daylight hours.
• Daytime nesting exposes the females to dangers
  by humans and animals.
• Male Kemps ridleys do not leave the water.

13
More nesting facts

• Female Kemps ridleys start laying eggs at 11 or
  12 years of age.
• They lay two or three clutches of 100 to 110 eggs
  during the same year.
• They may wait a year or two before nesting again.

14
ENDANGERED STATUS

• Kemps ridley is the most seriously endangered of
  all sea turtle species.
• Endangered means Not many left but there is
  still time!

15
WHY ENDANGERED?

• Eggs taken for sale and for food (before 1978)
• Adults killed for food and for leather (before
  1978)
• Adults caught in shrimp nets in U.S. waters
  (before 1990)

16
More problems

• Not enough law enforcement to board shrimp boats
  in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Oil spills and pollutants
• Ingestion of large quantities of plastic or other
  marine debris
• Boat propellers

17
NATURAL ENEMIES

• Eggs are eaten by raccoons, dogs and other
  animals.
• Hatchlings are eaten by birds and crabs as they
  leave the nest.
• Fish eat hatchlings in the water.
• Sharks attack both juvenile and adult sea turtles.

18
WHAT SOLUTIONS?

• Mexico now protects their nesting beach, adult
  turtles and hatchlings.
• The United States passed a law requiring shrimp
  boats to have Turtle Excluder Devices (TED) to
  allow sea turtles to escape shrimp nets.

19
TURTLE EXCLUDER DEVICE(TED)
20
HEADSTARTING 1978-1993

• 2,000 hatchlings were brought from Mexico each
  year.
• Raised at the Galveston Laboratory of NOAA
  Fisheries Service for ten months and then
  released.
• Some head started Kemps ridleys are now
  returning to nest on Texas beaches.

21
HOW MANY FEMALES ARE LEFT?

• In 2004, about 8000 nests were found on the
  beaches near Rancho Nuevo, Mexico.
• 42 nests were found on Texas beaches
• Note Sea turtles nest two or three times in a
  season and then may skip a year.

22
KEMPS RIDLEY NESTINGS IN TEXAS

• At least 18 Kemps ridleys that were head started
  have returned to nest.
• They were marked either with living tags on the
  shell, metal tags on flippers or pit tags.

23
2004, GALVESTON ISLAND
NOTICE THE WHITE SPOT ON THE SCUTE! (a living
tag placed there years before)
24
CAN WE SAVE THE RIDLEYS?

• 40,000 female Kemps ridleys nested in 1947 in
  Mexico
• Between 300 and 400 nested in l978
• About 3500 nested in 2004

25
The Best Protection of All!

• The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) was
  passed in 1973.
• All sea turtles are either endangered or
  threatened. (No more sea turtle soup!)
• The ESA must be kept strong if we are to protect
  sea turtles and many other animals and plants.

26
WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Write to our federal congressmen and women to
  keep the Endangered Species Act in place.
• (That will keep TEDs on shrimp trawls.)
• Dont throw trash at the beach or out of a boat.
• Ask Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to
  protect sea turtles in Texas waters. E-mail to
  nature_at_tpwd.state.tx.us

27
WE NEED A MARINE RESERVE!

• Since more Kemps ridleys nest near the Padre
  Island National Seashore than anywhere else in
  Texas, we need a marine reserve in state waters
  where shrimp boats would not be allowed.
• E-mail Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst today
  asking for a marine reserve http//www.ltgov.stat
  e.tx.us/Contact/email

28
Tourists or residents visiting Texas beaches can
use 1-866-TURTLE-5

• Become a Texas Turtle Tracker!
• Learn what to do if you find a nesting sea turtle
  or hatchling on the beach.
• Protect the turtle from traffic while you call
  1-866-TURTLE-5

29
Internet Resources

• http//www.seaturtles.org/teachers.cfm
• http//www.ridleyturtles.org/tekstaks.htm

30
THANKS FOR CARING ABOUT SEA TURTLES!