TURTLE RESCUE: Pembrokeshire CEO to fly world’s rarest sea turtle on first leg of 5,000-mile journey home

A critically endangered sea turtle rescued on a Welsh beach by a black labrador will begin his 5,000-mile journey home on Monday, in a helicopter flown by the Pembrokeshire businessman who volunteered it.

Darren Briggs, chief executive of the Pembrokeshire-headquartered fuel retailer Ascona Group, will fly Rhossi, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, from Anglesey to Denham Aerodrome in Buckinghamshire, a hop of around an hour and a half with co-pilot Gareth Abbott.

From there the turtle travels by road to Heathrow and boards a scheduled British Airways cargo flight to Houston, Texas. Around a week later he is due to be released into the Gulf of Mexico at Padre Island National Seashore.

The team behind the mission have a nickname for it: “Free Willy meets Mission Impossible.”

Rhossi was found cold-stunned on Traeth Llydan at Rhosneigr on 13 December 2023, discovered by a local dog called Meg. He arrived at Anglesey Sea Zoo weighing less than a kilogram.

He has spent almost two years being nursed back to health there, kept off public display to protect his chances of surviving in the wild. He is the fourth cold-stunned turtle the zoo has rehabilitated in the past decade, and was thought to be female until vets confirmed otherwise.

The recovery is complete: Rhossi passed his “fit to fly” checks on 2 August, weighing in at more than 20kg and 77cm long, twenty times the size of the stranded juvenile Meg found on the sand.

Kemp’s ridleys are the world’s rarest and most endangered sea turtle. They belong in the Gulf of Mexico and along the eastern United States, but juveniles are sometimes swept across the Atlantic by currents and cold-stunned in northern European waters in winter. Without specialist help, they rarely survive.

Frankie Hobro, owner and director of Anglesey Sea Zoo, said: “After almost two years of rehabilitation, the time has finally come for Rhossi to return home. Every stage of this journey depends on people working together, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has offered their expertise, time and support to make it possible.”

Seats out, turtle in

The Ascona helicopter has been reconfigured for its passenger, with seats removed to fit Rhossi’s temperature-controlled transport crate. Briggs is providing the flight free of charge.

“When I first heard Rhossi’s story, I knew I wanted to help,” he said. “It’s incredible to think that a turtle rescued on a Welsh beach is now preparing to make a 5,000-mile journey back to where he belongs.”

Briggs, a qualified helicopter pilot, said his daughter had always been interested in marine conservation. “To be able to play even a small part in helping Rhossi return home is a real privilege.”

He called the two-year effort behind the flight, from the sea zoo’s staff to conservation experts in the United States and volunteers in between, “a genuine international team effort”.

Ascona, one of the UK’s largest independent forecourt operators, is a familiar name in south west Wales charity circles: the group sponsored the Wales Air Ambulance’s 25th anniversary gala in June, and says it has pledged £1m to the Llanelli-based charity.

Rhossi’s final destination has been chosen carefully. The Kemp’s ridley’s principal nesting beaches are in Mexico and Texas, and Padre Island is at the heart of them, where a Welsh-reared turtle can do his bit for the next generation.

From a December beach on Anglesey to the Gulf of Mexico, via Buckinghamshire: not a bad recovery for a turtle who arrived weighing less than a bag of sugar.