Turtle Returns to Sea After 22 Years at Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium

“Molly was probably the largest turtle that we got into our aquarium in the last 22 years. I can safely say she was always known as the queen of the shark tank. Everyone always came back to see Molly,” Maria Foley said on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme regarding the creature’s departure after 22 years of rehabilitation at Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium.

Molly, a 257-pound loggerhead rescue turtle, was released back into the Atlantic Ocean yesterday from a Portuguese naval ship positioned 12 nautical miles off the coast of Portimão, as reported by rte.ie and thejournal.ie. The massive reptile originally washed up on the Maharees peninsula on the Co Kerry coast during a storm in 2004, weighing just 40 pounds as a 12-year-old adolescent suffering from severe flipper damage caused by a boat propeller or shark bite.

The Long Road from Kerry’s Shark Tank to Open Atlantic Waters

For more than twenty years, the injured loggerhead lived alongside sharks at the Kerry aquarium, eventually growing to an 18-stone adult that dominated her enclosure. Kevin Flannery, director of Dingle Oceanworld, noted that her sheer size meant she no longer feared predators.

While younger rescued turtles typically travel in light containers on passenger flights, moving Molly required substantial administrative clearance, including CITES permits and veterinary certificates. In April, TAP Air Cargo flew her in a padded box to Portugal, where marine biologists at Zoomarine’s Porto d’Abrigo turtle hospital spent five months preparing her for the wild by training her in natural foraging and diving patterns.

Molly Returns to Sea to Find Breeding Grounds

Marine staff noted that once Molly was placed inside the transport box aboard the naval vessel, she immediately grew active, reacting to the scent of salt water before gently walking off the ramp into the sea. Recent research involving European sea turtle stranding networks indicates that animals with partial flipper damage can successfully find their way back to their original nesting grounds, and experts hope her satellite tag will track her journey home.

Her main aim now seems to be making for the breeding ground. That’s what I figure from the way she was heading, Flannery said to thejournal.ie following the release.