WATCH: 600-Pound Sea Turtle Rescued, Released On Cape Cod

WELLFLEET, MA — Wildlife staff and volunteers rescued a stranded 600-pound leatherback sea turtle in a Cape Cod river and released it back into the wild.

The turtle found itself stuck in a mudflat along the Herring River in Wellfleet. Staff and volunteers with the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, the New England Aquarium and the International Fund for Animal Welfare freed the turtle Sunday morning.

"We wanted to keep it off the oysters and keep it from stranding somewhere we couldn’t rescue it," sanctuary director Bob Prescott told WCVB. "If it got away, there was no telling where it would strand next."

Rescuers brought the turtle to Herring Cove in Provincetown, where the turtle slowly made its way back into the ocean. Aquarium staff placed acoustic and satellite tags on the turtle, so wildlife officials there may be an update on its status in a few days.

See video of the sea turtle making its way back into the wild below: