After reaching out to the aviation industry to arrange a rescue flight for a rehabilitated Kemp’s ridley sea turtle that was stranded in Northern Wales, UK, charity Turtles Fly Too and other organizations were able to arrange an overseas flight to Texas, where “Tally” the turtle will be released.
Stunned by the cold water, Tally washed up on the shore of Talacre in Wales in November 2021, where he was found by a dog walker who called British Divers’ Marine Life Rescue. Tally, who was near death, was taken to Anglesey Sea Zoo and nursed back to health. Then the search for a way to return the turtle to Texas began.
It wasn’t simply a matter of arranging for a crate and a flight that could accommodate a relatively small turtle that had apparently strayed into the Gulf Stream and unwittingly caught a ride to the cold Wales waters. The complex multiple-continent flight involved arranging an import permit with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Once that was settled, the team contacted Turtles Fly Too to help arrange the flight, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This was the charity’s “farthest and most complex mission ever flown,” according to Turtles Fly Too advisory board v-p Ken Andrews. The Royal Air Force also played a key role, offering its facilities at RAF Valley and RAF Northolt to help get Tally home.
The flight to the U.S. will be flown by British Airways pilots Chris Sharp and Tom Baker, and the flight cost was donated by Turtles Fly Too. Tally will be accompanied by Anglesey Sea Zoo director Frankie Hobro.
After landing in Texas, Tally will be taken to Houston Zoo, where veterinarians will assess his health and prepare him for release. A tracking device will be attached to Tally, and the plan is to release him in early September.
“The cold waters of the Northeast Atlantic usually result in certain death for this species of subtropical sea turtle in the winter,” said Mary Kay Skoruppa, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Texas sea turtle coordinator. “But thanks to the quick response of a great group of international partners and volunteers, Tally is alive and ready to come home.
“We are incredibly thankful for all the volunteers and partners who have given Tally a second chance at life, from the dog walker in Wales who reported the turtle, to Turtles Fly Too, who are generously flying her back to Texas. We hope that Tally will grow to maturity and return to nest on a Texas beach in a few years to help ensure her species’s survival into the future.”