Olive Ridley Turtles

Below is a blurb from our website on one of the turtle species we experience on our travels.

Olive ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829), aka Pacific ridleys, are small, hard-shelled marine turtles, one of the two species of the genus Lepidochelys, and a member of the Family Cheloniidae. It is closely related to the Kemp’s ridley, with the primary distinction being that olive ridleys are found only in warmer waters The olive ridley sea turtle was named after H.N Ridley FRS, who was on the island of Fernando de Noronha, and in Brazil in 1887.

General Description
The olive ridley gets its name from the olive coloration of its heart-shaped top shell (carapace) and is one of the worlds smallest of the sea turtles, with adults reaching up to 60 centimetres in length and weighing anything from 36 to 49 kilograms. The species may be identified by the uniquely high and variable numbers of vertebral and costal scutes along its carapace which is bony, without ridges and has large scutes (scales). In addition, the vertebral scutes also show frequent division, as do the scales on the dorsal surface of the head. The prefrontal scales, however, usually number two pairs.


We experience thee, though not frequently on our Similan Liveaboard trips

Wicked Diving, Khao Lak