A giant leatherback turtle weighing "well over 70 stone" was yesterday hauled from the water in Brandon Creek in Co Kerry.
The giant female, 2.1m (7ft) long and 1.8m (6ft) wide and thought to be as old as 100 years, is the biggest leatherback to have been brought ashore live to Dingle Ocean World Aquarium.
The turtle will be released today after being fitted with a satellite tracking device, which will provide key information on the leatherback.
A delighted Kevin Flannery, marine officer and an exotic-fish expert who specialises in turtles, was last night awaiting the delivery of the tracking device from Swansea in Wales.
Fishermen found the leatherback, the largest of all sea turtles, caught in nets and the buoy ropes of lobster pots and alerted the aquarium. It took several men, a forklift and a floating trailer to remove her without injury.
Mr Flannery said the discovery was one of the most exciting yet by the Dingle aquarium, which is involved in a research project on turtles in conjunction with UCC.
"We have been waiting a long time for the chance to do this. We know they [the Atlantic leatherbacks] lay their eggs on a moonlit night in October in Venezuela. We know they come here off the southwest every summer, but we know little else about them."
Turtles are known to swim thousands of miles. Some of the leatherbacks have been sighted as far north as Iceland. However, their movements and habits remain largely a mystery.
Severely threatened by marine pollution and by having their eggs robbed, the giant leatherbacks are thought to number only 26,000 now.
Their greatest problem is mistaking plastic for their favourite food - jellyfish - and autopsies on several leatherbacks have found they starved to death after their intestines were blocked with ingested plastic.
Last night, the giant female was in a special tank in the aquarium. It is hoped the tracking device will allow the turtle's path to be followed on the internet. The device would not disturb her and would fall off after the winter, Mr Flannery said.