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. "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. This article contains content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies.