A rare olive ridley sea turtle, named 'Tini,' recently made history in Florida. Tini was the first suspected olive ridley to be documented nesting on a beach there.
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, shared this exciting news. Genetic tests confirmed Tini is 100% olive ridley.
An Unexpected Visitor
Olive ridley sea turtles are common globally. However, they usually live in places like India, Mexico, and Costa Rica. They also have large nesting groups in Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, and Gabon.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxSeeing an olive ridley along Florida's east coast is extremely rare. Tini's nest is the first recorded instance of this species nesting in Florida.
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center thanked the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the University of Georgia for their help. These groups confirmed this special sea turtle.
About Olive Ridleys
Olive ridleys are among the smallest sea turtles. Their shells grow up to 2.5 feet long. They typically weigh between 80 and 110 pounds. This is much smaller than the leatherback sea turtle, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds.
They are known for their heart-shaped, olive-green shells. Olive ridleys have two ways of nesting. Some, like Tini, nest alone. Others nest in large groups of thousands, a phenomenon called an "arribada" in Mexico. Experts believe this mass nesting helps protect hatchlings from predators.
Nicole Milson, who aimed to see all seven sea turtle species, highlights how rare Tini's visit is. Milson visited the Loggerhead Marinelife Center early in her journey. She saw a loggerhead turtle there but had to travel to Costa Rica to see her first olive ridley.
While volunteering in Costa Rica, Milson worked with 53 olive ridleys. She described it as the hardest work of her life. She did all-night beach walks and helped build a new hatchery for eggs.
Milson eventually met all seven sea turtle species. She feels proud that her efforts will help future generations of turtles.
