Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot pull their limbs and neck into their shells. In the first two days after hatching from their eggs, baby sea turtle hatchlings must travel from their nest to a safe place that has a lot of food and not many predators. After a fews years the young turtles are big enough to venture back into shallow waters near shore to nest. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are the smallest and most endangered of all sea turtles. An adult Kemp's Ridley sea turtle weighs between 77 and 100 pounds and measures 24 to 28 inches in shell length when full grown.
Sea turtles eat crabs and snails, using their beaks to crack the shells.
They find other food like shrimp and sea urchins using their keen sense of smell. When not nesting, the Kemp's Ridley sea turtles migrate throughout the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic coast. Once hatchlings break through the egg they head toward the ocean, which the baby turtles see as a bright light. Only about one in 1,000 baby turtles survive to adulthood. Shrimp boat nets and water pollution are also very dangerous to sea turtles.