Temperatures may still be hovering in the 60s, but one more sure sign of summer’s arrival has graced Chicago: Chonkosaurus has risen.
The famed snapping turtle, dubbed “Chonkosaurus” by internet commentators when pictures of her basking on a Chicago River pylon first went viral in summer 2023, reappeared earlier this week. The celebrity turtle and at least two companions spent the winter in brumation, a period of low activity akin to hibernation.
Steven Meyer, of the nonprofit organization Urban Rivers, said a Shedd Aquarium employee caught the first conclusive pictures of the season, which show a notch in the back right portion of the reptile’s shell.
Meyer said three snapping turtles have recently been hanging out near Goose Island, making it more of a challenge to identify Chonkosaurus. Chonk and another large (but not as large) turtle known as Stagg have both been visible over the last week, he said, but he was only able to definitively confirm which turtle was which on Thursday.
