Aquarium releases 655-pound sea turtle in waters off Cape Cod after treatment

Sept. 21, 2012: Bette Zirkelbach, left, administers physical therapy to the two front flippers of "Good Hope." (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

Sept. 21, 2012: Bette Zirkelbach covers a turtle egg with sand at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Fla. The egg was laid Friday by "Good Hope." (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

HARWICHPORT, Mass. – The New England Aquarium in Boston say it's released a 7-foot-long, 655-pound leatherback sea turtle back into waters off Cape Cod after it was treated for dehydration, trauma and shock.

The turtle was found stranded near the tip of the cape Thursday. Experts at the aquarium say the male turtle was underweight and lethargic, and a large portion of its left front flipper was missing because of some kind of trauma.

Aquarium officials say the turtle regained its strength, and they released it off Harwichport on Saturday.

Leatherback sea turtles are endangered and the largest reptile in the world. Experts treated the turtle using information obtained from research on leatherbacks that were briefly captured over the past few summers off Cape Cod.