Kemp's ridley sea turtle

A signature species for the Gulf of Mexico, the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle has become an emblematic story of conservation success. "Kemp’s ridley were once abundant in the Gulf of Mexico with tens of thousands of females nesting at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico. The population crashed in the mid-20th century to a low of only several hundred females nesting in the 1980s . . . Due to intensive conservation actions, the Kemp's ridley began to slowly rebound during the 1990s. The number of nests increased about 15 percent each year through 2009. However, in 2010 this rapid increase abruptly ended and the number of nests has fluctuated since then. The unexpected change in Kemp’s ridley nesting highlights the importance of continued protection, monitoring, and conservation efforts." Today, the endangered Kemp's ridley faces threats that include the bycatch in fishing gear, nesting habitat loss, predation of eggs and hatchlings, pollution, and climate change.