A massive snapping turtle lounging on a bed of rusty chains in the Chicago River has won hearts on the internet after a viral video of the spectacle was posted to Twitter on Saturday.
Joey Santore, a self-taught botanist and Chicago native, was kayaking through the Chicago River with his friend when he came across the turtle — which he named Chonkosaurus.
“We were just going to go out and survey for plant species that were popping up along the river, not anything that was planted, but what just pops up on its own in these highly disturbed and often polluted environments,” he said. “We started seeing a bunch of native species of turtle and were just checking out some of the animal life there.”
While kayaking down the river, Santore and his friend spotted the reptile on a rotting pylon, which was held together with chains and historically used to direct water traffic and prevent damage to other structures in the water. That day, it was a spot for the turtle to relax.
In the video, which had over 350,000 views on Twitter as of Friday afternoon, Santore offers Chonkosaurus words of encouragement.
“You look good. I’m real proud of you. You’ve been eating healthy,” Santore said in the video. “You ever heard of liquid salad? We’ve been doing that.”
Online users were mesmerized by Chonkosaurus’ size.
“I love Chonkosaurus, our new Chicago icon!” one person commented.
“you know, I don’t hear the old Chicago accent too much these days. this guy is a great example,” another user wrote on Twitter. “also love that our river is healthy enough to support this lovely beast!”
“What has that thing been eating??? I’ve never seen tortoise phat before, what a delight. I’ve seen big ones tall as a dog up in the northeast but that’s a real chonker,” another commented.
There are two species of snapping turtles in North America and both of them can be found in Illinois, according to the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River. Snapping turtles…
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