Humans seem preternaturally drawn to stories of animals surviving long journeys across a city, state, or country. Those Homeward Bound movies probably had something to do with it. Today, we have one such story, this one involving a rare sea turtle that traveled roughly 5,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to Wales.
As The Guardian reports, Rhossi, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, was found just barely clinging to life on a Welsh beach back in December 2023. He was nearly immobile from the cold and weighed just two pounds. There’s also the matter of being 5,000 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, where his species calls home. How he got there, no one knows for sure, but it’s suspected that strong winds and ocean currents carried him across the Atlantic.
Staff at Anglesey Sea Zoo spent over two years rehabilitating Rhossi, feeding him until he finally hit a respectable 46 pounds. Now that he’s in much better shape, there’s the matter of taking him back to the Gulf of Mexico where he belongs. The mission isn’t quite as easy as keeping him in a kiddie pool in coach.
But Why Was the Sea Turtle Covered in KY Jelly?
His skin can painfully flake off if it dries out, so, as a servant caressed exotic fragrant oils on the supple skin of a king, the zoo staff slathered Rhossi in more affordable Vaseline and KY jelly. This was all in an effort to fly him from Wales to Houston, where the Houston Zoo took over his rehabilitation. He looked generally healthy to the doctors there, except for some lingering pneumonia, which will delay his return to the sea.
It’s an unfortunate setback for a turtle that has already proven itself to be tougher than most. But he’s a survivor, and he needs to be sent. Kemp’s ridley turtles are some of the rarest sea turtles on Earth and have been endangered in the United States since 1970.
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