From a Welsh Beach to Texas: Rhossi’s Incredible 5,000-Mile Journey Home 🐢
When a local dog discovered a tiny sea turtle stranded on a beach in Anglesey in December 2023, his chances of survival looked desperately slim.
The turtle, later named Rhossi, was a juvenile Kemp’s ridley — one of the world’s most endangered sea turtles. Native to the much warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Rhossi had somehow been carried thousands of miles across the Atlantic before becoming cold-stunned in the freezing waters around Wales.
Weighing only around two pounds when he was found, Rhossi was taken into the care of Anglesey Sea Zoo, where an extraordinary rehabilitation effort began.
Over the following two years, the team nursed him back to health. He recovered from his ordeal, grew stronger and eventually reached around 46 pounds — more than twenty times the weight at which he had arrived.
But getting Rhossi healthy was only half the challenge.
To give him the chance to return to the wild, he needed to get all the way back across the Atlantic.
And that required quite a team.
On 10 August, Welsh businessman and helicopter pilot Darren Briggs helped begin Rhossi’s remarkable journey, flying him from Anglesey towards London in a specially prepared helicopter. Rhossi then travelled to Heathrow before boarding a transatlantic flight bound for Houston, Texas.
After a journey of approximately 5,000 miles, Rhossi finally arrived back in the part of the world where his species belongs.
At Houston Zoo, veterinary specialists gave their well-travelled patient a comprehensive examination, including X-rays and a CT scan. Rhossi appeared healthy, active and vigorous, although the scans revealed signs of lingering pneumonia.
That means his long-awaited release into the Gulf of Mexico has been postponed while he receives a little more treatment.
For now, Rhossi is swimming in a large seawater tank in Houston, building his strength and receiving expert care before the final stage of his journey.
His extraordinary story has brought together conservationists, veterinarians, volunteers, pilots and organisations on both sides of the Atlantic, all working towards one simple goal: getting one little turtle home.
After surviving cold Atlantic waters, almost two years of rehabilitation and a 5,000-mile journey across the world, Rhossi is now tantalisingly close.
The Gulf of Mexico is waiting for him. 🐢🌊
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