Last week, a massive turtle in the Chicago River was seen and given the name “Chonkosaurus” (or just “Chonk” for short). The turtle was observed by Joey Santore last weekend as he was kayaking along the Chicago River. He then posted a video of it to Twitter, which went viral.

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Who is Chonkosaurus?

Chonkosaurus is a massive snapping turtle that was recently found in the Chicago River.

Chicago native and self-taught botanist Joey Santore stumbled and spotted the turtle while kayaking in the Chicago River with a friend. In the video posted by him, he captioned it, “Chicago River Snapper aka Chonkosaurus Great to see this beast thriving here on what was once such a toxic river, but is slowly getting cleaned up & restored.”

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The reptile was discovered by Santore and his companion on a decaying pylon that had once been used to steer water traffic and guard against damage to other underwater buildings. The pylon was kept together by chains.

Santore can be heard on the video sounding astounded by the turtle’s size, which was showing folds of flesh that went far beyond its shell. “Look at this guy. We got a picture of this most beautiful sight. Look at the size of that … thing,” he says, using an expletive. “Look at that beast. Hey, how ya doing guy? You’re healthy.”

“You look good. I’m real proud of you. You’ve been eating healthy,” Santore added in the video. “You ever heard of liquid salad? We’ve been doing that.”

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More than 653,000 people have watched videos of Chonk on Twitter, and more than 84,000 people have watched them on YouTube. Many people on Twitter have also commented on the video, with one saying, “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 user tweeted, “you know, I don’t hear the old Chicago accent too much these days. this guy is a great example, also love that our river is healthy enough to support this lovely beast!” while another wrote, “I love Chonkosaurus, our new Chicago icon!”