Rarest sea turtle

The rarest species of sea turtle is Kemp's ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii, which is categorized as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. It occurs in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, especially warmer stretches, but occurs as far north as New Jersey, USA. The most recent estimate of nest numbers, in 2014, was 118, but during that same year 10,594 hatchlings were released by wildlife officials along the Texas coast. This small species has suffered greatly from being popular in Mexico as food, as well as from pollution, entanglement and resulting drowning in shrimp nets, and habitat loss.

Its closest relative is the olive or Pacific ridley turtle L. olivacea, which occupies the same ecological niche in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Fortunately, it is much more abundant than its Atlantic counterpart, being only categorized as Vulnerable by the IUCN.