World’s rarest turtle washes up alive on small North Wales beach

A couple in Flintshire, North Wales, made a remarkable discovery when they came across the world’s rarest turtle on a local beach.

Ash James and his wife Samantha discovered a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, the world’s rarest, on Talacre beach in North Wales on Sunday, November 28.

The turtle, also known as the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, is the world’s rarest and most endangered species of sea turtle.

Ash, who is from Holywell in North Wales, was walking his dog when he stumbled across the rare sight.

Samantha said: “Ash thought it was dead as it was motionless.”

The couple decided to report the animal to the British Marine Life Rescue.

The couple and their son, Gethin, then returned to the beach.

Marine Mammal Medics attended the scene and asked the family to locate the turtle, which was remarkably still alive even though it was thousands of miles away from its home in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ash and Sam fittingly named the turtle Raphael.

It was in a state of cold-water shock, however, he surprisingly began to move when gently poked.

Anglesey Sea Zoo collected Raphael, where he will spend the next few months recovering before being released into its home in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sam added: “It was astonishing to find such an amazing creature on our local beach – we all have our fingers crossed that he survives.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.