The director of Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium in Daingean Uí Chúis, Co Kerry, has said he is very grateful to Aer Lingus for agreeing to fly Solstice the turtle to the Canary Islands, where it will be re-released into the wild.
Kevin Flannery, a marine biologist, told RTÉ Radio One's Oliver Callan the endangered green turtle is ready for her release after nearly five months of treatment here.
While in the aquarium, the turtle gained strength and around 2kg, after being treated with antibiotics and being fed.
"Not many airlines now will fly a live animal like this down, but it's quite small, and it's hopefully it'll get there safely and back to its natural habit," he said.
The turtles are hypothermic when they land on Irish shores, he said, and Solstice was in very poor condition when she was found by a woman who runs a hedgehog sanctuary on a beach in Quilty, Co Clare, on Christmas Eve.
"When you take them out of the Atlantic, we have to give them a saline solution, a warm saline, and get their internal organs up.
"Solstice was covered in green seaweed, algae, and had respiratory problems. It had meningitis, it had everything".
"We are not exactly sure where Solstice came from, but we assume it was the Gulf of Mexico," Mr Flannery said.
He added that now the turtle will be tagged before it is release, so her carers in Ireland hope to see where his next journey takes her.
"The American Marine Research Centre - Woods Hole, it's called - they have found an island off of the African coast, where these green turtles come ashore and they their eggs. So it may be from there. We don't know but I'm hopeful it is, and that with the tag, we'll be able to see where it's going".
Mr Flannery said there was evidence that the turtle had also survived a shark attack.
"She may have been stunned and then finished up on our shorelines".
Apart from other sea creatures, these particular species of turtle are also under threat due to plastics in the sea, Mr Flannery added.
