Olive Ridley Mortality, Competition, and Human Impact

Causes of Death

Predators - Hatchlings, most of which die before reaching the ocean, are preyed on by crabs, raccoons, pigs, snakes, and birds. Adults are often eaten by sharks.

Sexual Competition - Sometimes several males will compete for females and may even fight each other. Observers of sea turtle mating have reported very aggressive behavior by both the males and females.

Disease - Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a debilitating disease that affects sea turtles. Turtles with FP have external tumors that may grow so large and hanging as to hamper swimming, vision, feeding, and potential escape from predators.

Other causes - Eggs are taken, nesting females are slaughtered for their meat and skin, fishing nets frequently snag and drown the turtles.

Competition

Inter-species - They rarely interact with one another outside of courtship and mating. Compete for food and habitat space. 

Intra-species - No real competition with other animals.

The most they are competing over is mates, food, and space with the other turtles. Otherwise, they keep to themselves.

Many non-native species, such as fire ants, rats, and red foxes, can be very dangerous on the beach, where they dig up nests and eat the turtle eggs.

IUCN Rating

Rating - Vulnerable

Population - 800,000 nesting females

Population Trend - Populations have been declining substantially for decades. Worldwide, olive ridleys have experienced a 30-50% decline, putting their populations at risk. 

Impact of Humans 

Bycatch in fishing gear and the direct harvest of turtles and eggs are the biggest threat facing olive ridleys. Other impacts are loss and degradation of nesting habitat, vessel strikes, ocean pollution, and climate change (warming climate can be lethal to eggs or alter the ratio of male and female hatchlings produced). 

As long as humans continue to pollute and worsen climate change, olive ridley populations will decline.

The species was first discovered and described in 1887 by German paleontologist Georg Baur.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is working to minimize effects from human activities that are detrimental to the recovery of olive ridley turtle populations in the United States and internationally. Some efforts to conserve include: protecting habitat; reducing bycatch; rescue, disentanglement, and rehabilitation; eliminating the harassment of turtle on nesting beaches and foraging habitats through education and enforcement; and consulting with federal agencies to ensure their activities are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species.

The Olive Ridley Project is on a mission to protect sea turtles and their habitats through rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, and education and outreach. 

The Marine Turtle Conservation Program was set up in 2010 to protect turtle breeding sites on beaches. 

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) aims to reduce turtle bycatch by working with fisheries to switch to more turtle-friendly fishing hooks and advocates for the use of devices that exclude turtles from nets. They are also working to protect sea turtle habitat and minimize climate change impacts.