This is the Kemp's ridley, the most critically endangered of the sea turtles. It nests almost exclusively on approximately five miles of Gulf of Mexico beach near Rancho Nuevo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Film taken along this beach in 1947 shows approximately 40,000 sea turtles digging nests all at once a solid mile of sea turtles covering the shore. Today the estimated nesting population is only about 900. This crisis in survival tells the story of sea turtles the world over, creatures vanishing beneath a tidal wave of development and exploitation.
Sea turtles hatch from eggs laid on beaches and immediately scuttle for the nearest waves.
While on the beach, they face a multitude of dangers, from gulls to dogs. The few that survive head for open water. Little is known about young Kemp's ridleys at sea, but they have been found as far north as Massachusetts. If they live to adulthood, the females return to land only long enough to dig a nest and lay their eggs. Adult Kemp's ridleys feed mostly on crabs, but they also eat shrimp, snails, sea urchins, sea stars, jellyfish, fish, and sometimes plants such as seagrasses.