After living among humans for almost a decade, Dylan the loggerhead sea turtle will be released into the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.

Officials from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island — where the former Georgia Aquarium attraction has lived for the past year — said her carapace has grown enough that it is safe for her to survive on her own. The carapace — the upper shell and protective surface of the turtle — is more than 50 centimeters long.

Georgie Sea Turtle Center (ENLARGE)

Dylan the turtle.

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Loggerhead sea turtle populations are diminishing in the western Atlantic Ocean and may be classified as "endangered" if they are further threatened.

Dylan was rescued on Jekyll Island as a hatchling and has spent her life in the care of humans. In 2005, she outgrew her tank at her home at Tidelands Nature Center in Jekyll Island and was transferred to the aquarium for its roominess. She was sent to the sea turtle center in May 2007, where she learned how to hunt for food like crabs, mussels, whelk and sea snails.

On today, researchers will fit Dylan with a special satellite transmitter to study her movements and learn the differences between learned and inherited behaviors. Fans can keep up with Dylan via the aquarium and sea turtle center Web sites.