In August 2025, a charter fisherman found a loggerhead sea turtle wrapped in commercial fishing lines and tethered to a crab trap.
But once she was freed, the 170-pound turtle — soon named Molly — was still a long way from recovery. So she was taken in by the rescue team at the Turtle Hospital, the world’s first state-licensed veterinary hospital for sea turtles.
“When you see a turtle that is covered in barnacles like Molly, you know that it is not healthy,” Bette Zirkelbach, the Turtle Hospital’s general manager, told The Dodo.
To remove Molly’s barnacles, Zirkelbach and her colleagues used flathead screwdrivers to get under the barnacles and pop them out.
“It’s like a good back scratch,” Zirkelbach joked.
But the barnacles barely scratched the surface. Molly was anemic and dehydrated, with several tumors on her body. And it was the biggest tumor — weighing in at a whopping 10.1 pounds — that raised the loudest alarm bells.
“There is no other word but grotesque to describe that ginormous tumor,” Zirkelbach said. “It was much bigger than her head, and she was entangled in a crab trap line. I've been working at the Turtle Hospital for almost 14 years. Molly takes the cake for the scariest-looking tumor that I've seen.”
The root cause of the tumor was fibropapillomatosis, a disease that causes cauliflower-like tumors on sea turtles’ skin, eyes, mouth, and internal organs.
“It's only found in and around developed islands, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the disease,” Zirkelbach said. “It definitely is impacted by the quality of water.”
Molly underwent a three-hour operation to remove the tumor, which Zirkelbach said is the largest tumor she’s ever successfully removed in her career.
As for the loggerhead? She passed “with flying colors.”
“Molly is doing well post surgery,” the Turtle Hospital shared in an Instagram update in August 2025. “She ate a good amount of mackerel, some squid, and munched on some lobster this evening.”
“Molly has a long road in recovery, and we are hoping her immune system is strong. Once her blood levels are built up, Molly will get the rest of her tumors removed. Please keep prayers and healing energies coming.”
After the largest tumor was removed, the loggerhead sea turtle’s personality blossomed.
“She seemed very happy to get it off, and she swam right away,” Zirkelbach said. “Each step of the way, she got stronger and feistier.”
After more surgery and several months of recovery, Molly was finally cleared to return home. She was released with a satellite tag on November 25, 2025 from Higgs Beach, Florida as a teeming crowd of locals cheered her on.
“Molly's incredible spirit of survival has touched hearts globally,” Zirkelbach said. “Molly's story really helps people to not only care about sea turtles, but about our oceans.”
“Sea turtles are on the endangered species list, so to see a turtle like Molly get strong enough to go back into the wild,” she continued. “I mean, it's why we do what we do … In my heart and my mind, she is the hope for the future of sea turtles.”
Since Molly was first released back into the ocean, she has swum over 870 miles around the tip of southern Florida. In March, the Sea Turtle Conservancy shared a map of Molly’s movements.
“Checking in with Miss Molly!” The Sea Turtle Conservancy posted to Facebook on March 5. “[She] has traveled up towards Marco Island and Ft. Myers before coming back down to The Keys.”
“I love Molly,” a Facebook user commented. “I check her out each morning.”
“So glad she’s doing well,” wrote another.
“Molly is smart,” one local joked. “If I could hang out in the Keys, I would, too!”
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Header image via the Turtle Hospital
