Tally the turtle on road to recovery - Anglesey Sea Zoo

A rare turtle who was found stranded more than 4,000 miles from home is expected to make a full recovery, the team caring for him has said.

Named Tally, the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle - believed to be from the Gulf of Mexico - was found by a member of the public on Talacre Beach near Rhyl on Sunday morning after Storm Arwen.

He had been transferred to Anglesey Sea Zoo for specialist intensive care.

The centre's owner said the turtle is now recovering well.

"We are delighted and excited to say that Tally has progressed extremely well in the last 48 hours since reaching its natural temperature of 26C and has now moved out of critical care into the recovery stage," said Frankie Hobro.

Ms Hobro added that staff are seeing " regular bursts of activity" from Tally and are gradually increasing the depth of water in the tank.

Although the turtle is still on rehydration therapy, vitamins and antibiotics, there do not appear to be any underlying conditions of concern, she said.

"These early stages of recovery are currently going well and looking extremely promising.

"We are becoming hopeful if this progress continues that Tally may make a full recovery so that he or she can be flown back to the Gulf of Mexico and released straight back into the wild where they belong."

Tally is currently quarantined in a shallow tub "in a purpose-built igloo-type construction" to enable close monitoring and hands-on treatment at the centre.

A larger tank is being made ready for the turtle's rehabilitation over the next few weeks.

"Our next challenge is to get Tally feeding again, which may take some time, so we are starting to offer some small items of food to gradually encourage Tally to regain an appetite," said Ms Hobro.

Tropical turtles such as the Kemps Ridley, which is one of the rarest in the world, are commonly found in temperatures of around 25C and above - much warmer than the average sea temperatures of 6C in north Wales at this time of year.

Anglesey Sea Zoo believe Tally lost its way whilst journeying through warmer seas further south in the Atlantic, probably due to the recent strong wind and currents caused by Storm Arwen.

"The cold and windy weather here is unsustainable for such species of turtles to survive, and many of the tropical turtles washed up on beaches around the UK are found dead," said the centre.

It added that two other young Kemps Ridley turtles have been found washed up on beaches in Scotland but were declared dead upon initial investigation.

"It is possible that several juveniles were carried off course together with Tally in the same cold water current when the Atlantic Ocean was suddenly stirred up by Storm Arwen.