Guatemala is a country rich in biodiversity, with a variety of habitats and wildlife. One of Guatemala’s incredible small creatures is the olive ridley sea turtle. We have all heard that sea turtles are on their way to becoming extinct, and even the Olive Ridley sea turtles are known for having the largest population around the globe.
They love open ocean inhabitants, so you will never see them near reefs. In Guatemala, they can be seen nesting in Monterrico. That’s why I have gathered incredible facts about Olive Ridley Sea Turtle.
General Details About The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Common Name: Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Scientific Nomenclature: Lepidochelys olivacea
Size: 2 to 2.5 feet
Weight: Up to 100 pounds
Life Expectancy: 50 years
Diet: Omnivore
8 Facts About The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Sea turtles are amazing and endangered animals you can find in Guatemala, they have specific nesting times, so if you want to see one of those animals you need to be prepared, talk to some tours, and plan your eco-friendly trip based on that. It’s an amazing experience every wildlife watcher should have.
Olive-Green Shell
In the first place, talk about their name, so, basically, they get their name from the gorgeous olive green shade of their shell, which is heart-shaped and has a slippery texture. And they are mostly found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.
The shell is named a carapace, and it covers the turtle’s body and hugely protects it from predators and unexpected accidental injuries.
The shell contains 12-14 pairs of marginal scutes, even though, the shell too has a nuchal scute, which is a single plate at the front of the carapace, and a pygal scute, which is a single plate apparently at the back of the carapace.
Size & Weight
It’s hard to believe, the olive ridley sea turtle is the second-smallest of the turtles found in the oceans.
Both Males and females almost grow the same, approximately weighing up to 100 pounds and gauging only about 2 feet when it comes to length.
Unlike Kemp’s ridley, the rarest species of sea turtle, the olive ridley has a slightly smaller head and shell.
Food
Olive ridley sea turtles are often carnivorous in nature and they love to feed invertebrates like tunicates, mollusks, algae, jellyfish, snails, crabs, seagrasses, fish, sessile, and shrimp. It uses its strong jaws and sharp beak to crush and tear its prey and then eat them.
They got a flexible esophagus that helps them expand to swallow large items. Sometimes, it may eat pesticides, agricultural runoff, industrial discharges, and seaweed as well, especially when food is scarce.
Long-Distance Migration
Olive ridley sea turtles are highly migratory, and they can pretty much travel long distances between their feeding and nesting grounds.
Every year, they travel around hundreds or even thousands of miles between their open-sea feeding spots and the coastal areas where they breed and nest.
Arribadas
Unlike other sea turtle genres, which love to nest individually or in small groups, olive ridleys nest in pretty large groups called arribadas, which means “arrival” in Spanish.
Arribadas are spectacular phenomena, but they also pose challenges to the turtles’ survival, and this at the same time increases the risk of predation, disease, and human exploitation.
Nesting Ritual
Olive ridley sea turtle is the only sea turtle that nests in such large groups. Scientists are still not sure how they coordinate this feat. Some possible factors are the moon’s phase, tide, temperature, and magnetic fields.
The olive ridley turtle nesting season happens in Guatemala’s rainy season, peaking in September, but low nesting (2-4 turtles per night) occurs throughout the year.
This basically happened when thousands of females came ashore at the same time to lay their eggs. During nesting, the females dig a hole in the sand with their flippers, lay about 100 to 110 eggs, cover them up, and return to the sea.
The eggs take 50 to 60 days to hatch. Interestingly, Nesting intervals for solitary nesters are generally 14 days, and for arribada nesters are around 28 days.
After the baby turtles are born and grow up, they make an amazing trip across the ocean from the Atlantic Ocean to return to nest on the same beach they are born. Leatherback turtles are much rarer than olive Ridley on Guatemala’s coasts. Their nesting occurs in November and December, but only 2-3 turtles arrive at the nest per night.
ARCAS Efforts In Monterrico Guatemala
Monterrico Guatemala is a pretty key nesting site for the olive ridley sea turtle, a species that is vulnerable to extinction due to human activities and global warming.
There are no arrivals on Guatemala’s coasts due to the excessive commercialization of their eggs. The local egg collectors often harvest the turtle eggs for consumption or sale, leaving only a fraction of them to hatch.
To address this problem, a couple of organizations work together motored by ARCAS to reduce the egg removal rate in this area (which by the way is 99.9%) by asking the local collectors for a donation.
This way, the organizations hope to increase the survival rate of the olive ridley sea turtles and raise awareness among the local community about the importance of preserving this endangered species. Find the best turtle viewing areas in Guatemala.
Deep Sea Diving
In the hunger for prey such as jellyfish, tunicates, and mollusks, the olive ridley sea turtle can dive to depths of up to 500 feet.
Conclusion – The Bottom Line!
So, these are all the facts about the amazing olive ridley sea turtle. They are beautiful, unique, and fascinating creatures that are an important part of our marine ecosystem. It is our responsibility to protect and conserve the olive ridley sea turtle and its habitat. The ARCAS efforts will be successful only in a case, when we all are aware and take responsibility to protect their ecosphere.
Last Updated on June 28, 2025
