Giant Green Sea Turtle Jolly, 50 Years Old And 330 Pounds, Released Back Into Ocean

A 330-pound green sea turtle named Jolly has been released back into the ocean off the Florida Keys after being found stuck in a crab trap last month. The Turtle Hospital, a nonprofit organization in Marathon, Florida, amputated her rear flipper and rehabilitated the turtle before sending her back into the wild Friday.

“Jolly is probably 50 plus years old,” Bette Zirkelbach, manager of the Turtle Hospital, said in a press release. “So that’s why we want to make sure we get her out so she keeps making baby turtles.”

Read: Dead Whale With Stomach Full Of Plastic Bags Found Beached, Starving

The giant turtle arrived at the hospital Feb. 8 with three trap lines tangled around her right back flipper. She was one of the largest turtles ever to be treated at the hospital. The turtle was nicknamed Jolly by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers who rescued her: Jeff Carroll and Olly Adams.

The hospital got Jolly back in the water just in time for nesting season, which starts in April. Though she only has three flippers now, sea turtles can easily swim without one flipper, the Turtle Hospital assured on its website.

“She can get out there in time to date and hopefully lay some eggs,” Zirkelbach said.

Read: 'Extraordinary' Levels Of Contamination Found In Deepest Parts Of Ocean

Jolly is also of prime age for reproduction, which begins for sea turtles at around 20 years old.

Green turtles, which can grow as heavy as 400 pounds, are endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Their numbers are increasingly threatened by a variety of factors. Every year, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles are caught in shrimp nets or on hooks. They are also the victims of habitat loss from coastal development that decimates their nesting areas and seagrass feeding grounds. Green turtles are also hunted and traded illegally for their eggs and shells for traditional medicine and ceremonies around the world.