Rare turtle to be sent back home in 5,000-mile 'incredibly emotional' trip
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- Rhossi, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle, was found "cold-stunned" on a Welsh beach near Rhosneigr in December 2023 by a dog named Meg and nursed back to health by Anglesey Sea Zoo over two-and-a-half years, growing from under 1kg to 21kg.
- Anglesey Sea Zoo is coordinating a 5,000-mile transport — helicopter from Anglesey to London, then cargo flight to Houston — using a custom temperature-controlled crate, with staff applying KY Jelly to Rhossi's eyes and Vaseline to his shell to prevent dehydration.
- Curator Matt Davidson said the journey must be completed quickly because Rhossi is out of water; Davidson described buying eight tubes of KY Jelly and three tubs of Vaseline at a chemist and getting "strange looks" at the checkout.
- Kemp's ridley sea turtles are the world's rarest sea turtle species, nesting only on beaches in Mexico and Texas, making each successful return to the wild significant for species survival.
- Owner Frankie Hobro called releasing Rhossi "incredibly emotional" because staff bonded with him over two-and-a-half years: "a little piece of us is going to be swimming off into the Caribbean Sea, and we'll never see him again."
- Rhossi is the fourth sea turtle rescued and rehabilitated by Anglesey Sea Zoo in the past decade, and the zoo is now planning to build a dedicated turtle rescue centre for future cold-stunned cases on the Welsh coast.
Why it matters: Rhossi is a member of the world's rarest sea turtle species, which nests only on a handful of beaches in Mexico and Texas. His successful rehabilitation marks only the fourth such rescue by Anglesey Sea Zoo in a decade, and the zoo's decision to build a dedicated rescue centre signals it expects more cold-stunned strays to wash up on Welsh coasts.
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