A RARE species of sea turtle that was found on Talacre beach has been released back into the wild in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, named Tally after the beach it was found on, was rescued in November 2021.
The juvenile turtle was found on the beach some 4,700 miles away from its home in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
She was in a state of cold water shock and was taken in for care by the Anglesey Sea Zoo. Its round-the-clock care paid off and Tally was recently flown to the USA ahead of being released into the wild.
On September 6, Anglesey Sea Zoo's director and owner, Frankie Hobro, joined the Texas-based Gulf Centre for Sea Turtle Research to release Tally back into the wild.
The Centre posted on Facebook saying: "Tally had a successful release back home to the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon on Stewart Beach in Galveston.
"We are thankful for our amazing volunteers and the coordination it took to get Tally back home! Each person was an integral part in making this release happen, from helping to transport and care for Tally, to setting up and breaking down the release site. Our volunteers are why we are successful.
"This morning, we applied a satellite tag so that we will be able to track Tally’s movements throughout Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Stay tuned for more release details and a snapshot of her travels!".
The centre posted an update over the weekend saying: "As we mentioned, it often takes a few days initially for the satellite tag to provide meaningful results. As of Friday, September 8, Tally was located just at the tip of the north jetty of Galveston channel. Her overall movement is east.
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"The map below shows the raw movement data and contains location error. It also shows where she was tagged, released, and her current location, which is marked as a red circle with a white outline. Each red circle is a prior location and we can see her track as she moves east. As we provide new updates, the most recent locations will be in red, then going back in time, orange, yellow, and blue."
Anglesey Sea Zoo is currently fundraising for the creation of a turtle rescue and research facility. It is looking to raise £50,000 to help fund it and can be donated to at https://bit.ly/489WUk7.
As well as Tally, the Sea Zoo has also rescued and rehabilitated two other sea turtles over the last year.
It said: "As a result of our experiences with these two amazing turtles, we are now armed with all the knowledge, experience and global turtle rescue contacts needed to be UK cold-stranded turtle experts and the professional contacts we need abroad for re-releasing them after recovery.
"Here at the Anglesey Sea Zoo we have only natural seawater with native exhibits and while community engagement, sustainability and conservation are fundamental to what we do every day, our only income is from visitor footfall. So our marine animal rescue work with turtles and other species is entirely voluntary and we have to carry the cost of this ourselves or raise it through our own fundraising endeavours.
"This is particularly challenging with turtle rescue as often the most critical time we are caring for them is at the most difficult time for us, at the coldest and quietest time of year in respect to staffing capacity and energy costs."
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