Turtle returns to sea after 22 years recovering in Irish aquarium

Mary Cronin's children Barry and Aisling were still young when the family found a severely injured sea turtle buried beneath storm debris on an Irish beach.

More than 22 years later, Barry and Aisling have grown up and moved abroad and now Molly the loggerhead has left Ireland too.

After two decades of gradual rehabilitation and veterinary care advances, the rescued turtle has been released back into the ocean.

Because of severe injuries to her front flippers, believed to have been caused by a shark attack, staff feared she might never be strong enough to survive at sea.

Molly was rescued by Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium in 2004 and was there until May 2026 when she moved to to Zoomarine Porto d'Abrigo centre in Portugal.

She was released about 12 nautical miles off the Algarve coastline on Wednesday 28 October.

"We couldn't be any prouder of her. Getting turtles back to the ocean is always our goal, and this is just the start of a new chapter for Molly," Oceanworld Aquarium said in a social media post.

Molly is also carrying a satellite tag so the team at Zoomarine can track her.

Mary, from Wexford, said she and her children found the turtle while walking on a beach near Castlegregory on the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry after an Atlantic storm.

"The beach was full of seaweed and debris," she told BBC News NI.

"Something moved in the seaweed and there was this turtle."

Molly was "cold-stunned" - a form of hypothermia that affects sea turtles in cold waters.

The family called the aquarium whose team arrived within half an hour with heated water tanks.

Mary named the turtle Molly after her own nickname and the family returned to visit the turtle at the aquarium over the years.

"As the children got older, it wasn't every year, but we always called in," Mary said.

"She followed us through life in a very positive way."

Now both Barry and Aisling are living in New Zealand, with Barry working as a conservation biologist and Aisling as a teacher - the imprint Molly left on their lives never went away.

And because of this Mary said Molly's departure feels familiar.

"It's kind of like your child getting on an airplane and going across to another continent," she said.

"We are thrilled that Molly has returned to her native home and looking forward to reports back on her progress out in the wild."

Dr Kevin Flannery, the aquariums director and founder, said previous efforts to fit Molly with prosthetic flippers were unsuccessful.

During a recent medical check-up, staff discovered she was carrying eggs.

"It's important that these creatures get back into the wild and they survive and thrive into the future," he told BBC News NI in June, after she left the aquarium.

Loggerhead turtles have a long life span and can live from 50 to 80 years - or older. They begin laying eggs between 25 and 35.

Flannery said he believes Molly was about 10 years old when she was rescued.

She was taken off display for six months and trained to forage and survive independently.

The aquarium worked with Zoomarine, which has a specialist turtle rehabilitation centre, to prepare her for the transfer and release into the warm Atlantic waters.

DNA testing showed Molly is linked to loggerhead turtles from the Gulf of Mexico and it is hoped she can make her way back there.

Loggerhead turtles are considered vulnerable, meaning they face a high risk of extinction.

Molly may face dangers on her journey back across the open Atlantic including plastic pollution, fishing gear, hooks and boat strikes.

Flannery said Ireland would typically see one or two loggerheads washed ashore each year, although five stranded last year alone.

He said warming seas linked to climate change could lead to more strandings meaning rescue centres must be prepared.

Molly weighed about 12kg (1st 9lb) when rescued and now weighs 120kg (18st 9lb).

"We could have her playing full forward for our All-Ireland teams," he said.

"She's been part and parcel of the aquarium. All the staff got to know her and all the previous staff we've had here down through the 20 odd years.

"But these poor creatures are under threat, so it's vital that Molly gets back to breed."