Prior to being known as ridleys, French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède referred to the Lepidochelys species as "bastard turtles."

Renowned sea turtle conservationist Archie Carr claimed that "ridley" was a common Floridan term, quite possibly, a dialectal corruption of "riddle.

The olive ridley sea turtle is considered to have the most abundant numbers today, estimated as 800,000 nesting individuals.

The threats to their survival are loss of nesting habitat, direct harvest of the eggs and adults, and entanglement in fishing gear.

Laws against harvesting the adults and eggs also have helped the olive ridley sea turtles' numbers gradually increase.