Molly, a loggerhead turtle native native to the water around the Florida Keys, returned home to Higgs Beach on Nov. 25 after undergoing life-saving surgery earlier in 2025.
Believed to be approximately 25 to 30 years old, Molly was tangled in commercial fishing lines attached to a crab trap when a charter fisherman found her in desperate need of help in August. Even worse for Molly, the fishing lines were also wrapped around a painful-looking, 10-lb. tumor growing from the left side of the animal’s neck.
Molly was taken to The Turtle Hospital, a facility located in the Florida Keys dedicated to rehabilitating injured sea turtles and returning them to their natural habitat. There, doctors discovered that the turtle’s tumor had left Molly extremely anemic.
Courtesy of The Turtle Hospital
Molly at The Turtle Hospital before her tumor was removed
“She had multiple tumors, but that 10.1-pound tumor is what was really threatening her life,” Bette Zirkelbach, manager of The Turtle Hospital, told NBC News.
On Aug. 12, three days after her rescue, Molly underwent a three-hour-long procedure performed by Dr. Terry Norton to remove her tumor and start on the road to recovery. Molly’s operation was a success, marking the largest tumor ever successfully removed from a sea turtle, according to The Turtle Hospital.
Courtesy of The Turtle Hospital
Molly in surgery
After her first surgery, Molly focused on adopting a healthy diet of mackerel, squid, and lobster to gain weight, so her second surgery would also go swimmingly.
On September 24, over a month after her first surgery to remove her massive, bulbous tumor, Molly went under for the knife one more time. During the follow-up operation, doctors removed the turtle’s smaller tumors.
Courtesy of The Turtle Hospital
Molly’s release on Higgs Beach
After two months of healing and recuperation at The Turtle Hospital, Molly returned to the open ocean. On the morning of Nov. 25, hundreds of fans surrounded Molly on Higgs Beach as she made her splashy return to the sea. Before taking off, the animal was fitted with a satellite-tracking device on her shell, courtesy of The Sea Turtle Conservatory. Placed with non-heat epoxy, the tracker should remain on Molly for up to 2 years, allowing her doctors and the public to keep tabs on the resilient loggerhead. Animal lovers can track Molly here. As of Dec. 2, the newly released turtle is heading north along the Gulf coast of Florida.
Courtesy of The Turtle Hospital
Molly in the moments before her release
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NBC News asked Zirkelbach what the impressive public turnout for Molly’s release meant to hear. “It gives me hope,” she said. “It gives me hope for our sea turtles. It gives me hope for our oceans.”
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