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Tally, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle, has returned to the United States after a harrowing journey across the Atlantic. Experts say Talley was swept up into fast moving ocean currents and unwittingly traveled from somewhere along the coastal U.S., only to be discovered near death on a beach in northern Wales in 2021.
Tally is now being looked after at the Houston Zoo prior to her release back into the wild. TPR's Jerry Clayton spoke with Mary Kay Skoruppa, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Sea Turtle Coordinator who is overseeing the lengthy and complex process of getting Tally back to the U.S. after her two year recuperation.
This interview has been edited for time and clarity.
Clayton: I understand that Talley has made it back here to the United States and is at the Houston Zoo. How is she doing?
Skoruppa: She's doing fine.
Clayton: How unusual is it for an animal like this to get swept that far away?
Skoruppa: It's fairly unusual. But what is most unusual is that she survived. Most of the turtles that get caught up into that Gulf Stream and carried across the Atlantic don't survive it because the waters, you know, when the seasons change and the water temperature drops in northern Europe, it's too cold for a Kemp's ridley.
So this particular turtle was very lucky that she stranded, which means she washed up on the shore, very sick. And a good Samaritan who was walking his dog reported her to the right authorities and that's why she was rescued.
Clayton: So it was a lengthy process to rehabilitate Tally and also quite a chore to arrange to bring her back to the United States. Tell me about that.
Skoruppa: It has taken us over a year to get everything in order and to find the flights, have all the partners lined up and it has been just a tremendous effort with so many people and organizations involved. Yes, but she's here in Texas and the rest is going to be easy.
We just need to give her a good checkup, make sure she's ready to go back to the wild. And then we're going to release her from Galveston on Tuesday afternoon.
Clayton: So explain to me what happens during the release. Is the turtle going to be tagged?
Skoruppa: Well, assuming the veterinarians here at Houston Zoo give us the okay to do that, which we expect that they will, but we always make sure that it's not going to compromise their welfare.
Assuming they do give us clearance, then, yes, we will put a satellite transmitter on her carapace and it'll stay on for a few months, but just long enough so that we can track her movements and see what she's doing after she gets back into the wild after being gone for almost two years.
Clayton: So Tally has finally made it back home and is set now to be released soon. How does that make you feel?
Skoruppa: Here in Texas we're so proud of the Kemp's ridley. We're at the northern extent of their nesting range. And maybe your listeners already know this, but South Texas and all of Texas, actually, we do have Kemp's ridleys nesting here. But the majority of Kemp's ridleys nests are in Mexico. So we're we're proud of the camps, really, and we're happy that this one's getting a second chance at life.
Tally is set to be released into the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday at Stuart Beach in Galveston. Frankie Holbrook, a zoo director from Wales who oversaw Tally's recovery, traveled with the turtle to Houston and will have the honor of placing Tally into the water.
