At 240 pounds, Meatloaf the green sea turtle is as wide as a manhole cover. And after a harrowing rescue, she is safely recovering at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.
“Meatloaf is our newest rescued green sea turtle and is now viewable in our new sea turtle rehabilitation area,” the aquarium posted to Instagram on April 9. “At over 200 pounds, she is one of the largest sea turtles we have cared for.”
On January 14, Meatloaf was pulled from the San Gabriel River after she was spotted by community science volunteers from the aquarium’s Sea Turtle Monitoring Project.
“She was entangled in fishing line and rope, and was transferred to the aquarium for medical evaluation and care because of the aquarium’s expertise in treating and releasing stranded and injured sea turtles,” the aquarium continued in their post.
Meatloaf is one of many marine animals that have been rescued from abandoned fishing gear in recent months.
On April 4, a lifeguard in Florida rescued a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle — one of the world’s rarest sea turtles — after it washed ashore with a fishing hook in its throat. In 2025, eight seals were rescued in Rhode Island after becoming entangled in fishing nets.
In many cases, fishing gear — also called “ghost traps” — can drag marine life down, drowning them. Despite her injury, Meatloaf was one of the lucky ones.
“The entangled line severely damaged a front flipper, cutting off blood supply,” said Dr. Lance Adams, Director of Veterinary Services. “We have been doing all we can, including surgery to try and save the flipper. It is showing some early promising signs of healing.”
For the last two months, Meatloaf has had several surgeries on her flipper. Currently, the plan is to keep the massive green sea turtle for at least another six months as the veterinary team redresses her wounds.
At the moment, Meatloaf’s flipper is twice the size that it should be, due to fluid buildup that will require further surgery.
Currently, the aquarium is raising $50,000 to fund Meatloaf's ongoing care and surgery. To support her recovery, people can visit the Aquarium of the Pacific’s fundraiser.
“The aquarium is currently one of only two facilities in Southern California that have dedicated spaces to rehabilitate sea turtles,” the Aquarium of the Pacific shared on Instagram.
In their latest update on Meatloaf, the staff also gave a shoutout to Porkchop, a three-flippered green sea turtle that was recently released back into the wild.
“Porkchop, the first rescued sea turtle to use the new area, was released into the wild in February and since then has been spotted with other sea turtles,” they shared. “The aquarium hopes that Meatloaf will be able to do the same.”
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Header image via Aquarium of the Pacific / Instagram
