Dilly Dally the Three-Flippered Turtle Is Back in the Ocean, Like a Boss

Dilly Dally, a young loggerhead sea turtle, just pulled off something incredible. She lost a front flipper to a predator, but that didn’t stop her from heading right back to the ocean this Wednesday.

She was rescued back in January and taken to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida. The injury was bad, and vets had to amputate the flipper. But the team didn’t give up. They cared for her, healed her, and got her strong enough to swim again.

“It’s always a big day when we release a turtle,” said Marika Weber, one of the vet techs at the center. “It means everything to the whole team.”

The weather tried to mess with the plans. Storm clouds rolled in. But they didn’t let that stop them. They drove Dilly Dally straight to the beach, where a cheering crowd watched her crawl into the Atlantic like a champ.

There’s now a satellite tag on her back, thanks to a partnership with the Smithsonian. It was added just the day before she returned to the sea.

This tracker lets us all follow her journey in real time. It’s not just cool—it’s super useful. As Weber explained, we still don’t know what happens to turtles with three flippers. Do they migrate the same? Do they feed the same? Dilly Dally might help answer that.

And since every sea turtle is either threatened or endangered, one turtle making it back to the ocean is a big win.

Want to track Dilly Dally’s journey? Head over to the Marinelife Turtle Tracker and cheer her on.