The Olive Ridley - Lepidochelys olivacea

The Olive Ridley is quite small with a bony shell without ridges; it has large scutes (scales).

The shell or Carapace has six or more lateral scutes and is nearly circular and smooth. Its body is deeper than the very similar Kemp's Ridley sea turtle. Both the front and rear flippers have one or two visible claws. There is sometimes an extra claw on the front flippers. Juveniles are charcoal grey in colour, while the adults are a dark grey green. Hatchlings are black when wet with greenish sides. The adults measure two to three feet in carapace length and can weigh between 77 and 100 pounds. The Olive Ridley has powerful jaws that allow for an omnivore diet of crustaceans (such as shrimp & crabs), molluscs, tunicates, fish, crabs, and shrimp.

They are generally found in coastal bays and estuaries, but can be very oceanic over some parts of its range. They typically forage off shore in surface waters or dive to depths of five hundred feet to feed on bottom dwelling crustaceans. They nest every year in arribadas; large communes two times each season. Each turtle lays an average of over one hundred eggs in each nest. The eggs incubate for about fifty five days. An average clutch size is over one hundred eggs which require a fifty two to fifty eight day incubation period. The Olive Ridley inhabits tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans.