Help get Tally home!

 
On 28th November little ‘Tally' was rescued from Talacre Beach in North Wales in a state of cold shock and almost dead. Initially reported as a Leatherback turtle, Tally's rescuers quickly realised that Tally was in fact a very rare Kemps Ridley Turtle - the most endangered sea turtle species in the world!
Tally is a juvenile so too small for us to know if it is a he or she, so the name was chosen after the beach where Tally was stranded.
Tally's species would usually be found in much warmer waters around the Gulf of Mexico where the only known breeding sites for Kemps Ridleys turtles currently exist. Twenty years ago there fewer than 200 breeding females left in the world so the species is classified as critically endangered, and dedicated conservation efforts have resulted in an increase to 7000-9000 breeding females today. So every Kemps Ridley turtle is extremely precious!
Tally was in critical condition when found, having survived sea temperatures of 6oC here compared to the 26oC that Tally is used to in the Gulf of Mexico. Tally was transported to us here at Anglesey Sea Zoo and Marine Resource Centre for intensive care and over the past week the team have been slowly increasing Tally's ambient temperature to bring Tally out of a 'cold stunned' state. Progress was initially slow with only small voluntary movements shown by Tally but with the amazing work of the team alongside vet Celyn Thorpe at Bennett Williams Veterinary Practice in Gaerwen, Tally is now awake and alert and making fantastic progress.
With Tally now emerging from intensive care we are starting to think about his or her longer term care and rehabilitation, and how to ensure that Tally is kept warm and fed and prepared for release over the next few weeks and months, which involves a specially adapted tank and equipment, specific nutrition, a flight and a specially adapted transport container. When Tally has been rehabilitated here and is strong and healthy enough to travel, we plan to fly him or her back to the Gulf of Mexico to be released straight back into the wild there. 
With this in mind, Anglesey Sea Zoo are asking for your help with the costs of Tally's care, rehabilitation and transport costs to be returned to the wild. We are hopeful that Tally will make a full recovery and we are very excited at the prospect of him or her returning to the wild where sea turtles belong, and contributing in the future to a further increase in the critically endangered population of Kemps Ridley turtles.


Every little helps and we are incredibly grateful for all the support shown during Tally's journey so far. Thank you from the whole team at ASZ.