Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
(Lepidochelys olivacea)Identification

- up to 1.0 m
Colour
- olive-grey
Shell
- smooth, heart-shaped (as wide as it is long)
- scute behind the head is square
- shell is very domed
- has many more scutes along the length of the shell than green or loggerhead turtles.
- surfaces to breathe for a few minutes
- holds head above water, then slowly sinks back down
Group size / social behaviour
- solitary
- smallest of the sea turtles
Can be confused with
- loggerhead sea turtle
- green sea turtle
Natural History
Olive ridley sea turtles are strong divers, and have been known to dive up to 150 m in search of crabs, sea urchins and other bottom-dwelling creatures. They also roam widely in the open ocean in search of sea jellies.
Like all sea turtles, olive ridley sea turtles are threatened by habitat destruction, pollution, poaching and harvesting at their breeding beaches, disease, and mortality in fishing gear.

Although an olive ridley sea turtles has only been seen once in British Columbia, there has also been occasional sightings of olive ridley sea turtles in Oregon and Washington waters in recent years. As our oceans change, we might expect to start seeing olive ridleys on Canada’s Pacific coast.
Status in Canada
The olive ridley sea turtle is designated as Vulnerable worldwide by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List. The IUCN has posted the following assessment of olive ridley sea turtles.
PUBLICATIONS
Cheng, I.-J. and Chen, T.-H. 1997. The incidental capture of five species of sea turtles by coastal setnet fisheries in the Eastern waters of Taiwan. Biological Conservation 82(2): 235-239
Koch, V., Nichols, W.J., Peckham, H. and de la Toba, V. 2006. Estimates of sea turtle mortality from poaching and bycatch in Bahía Magdalena, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Biological Conservation 128(3): 327-334
Mascarenhas, R., Santos, R. and Zeppelini, D. 2004. Plastic debris ingestion by sea turtle in Paraíba, Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin 49(4): 354-355