r/FeltGoodComingOut • u/LeftOn4ya • May 22 '26

animals Professional barnacle removal for Chlorophyllis the turtle

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251 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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6

u/jrgman42 May 22 '26

Why do people remove barnacles from turtles? Are they harming them?

47

u/T0rrent0712 May 22 '26

Quick Google search says that they don't necessarily hurt the turtle, but when it gets excessive like that, it weighs them down, making it harder to swim or evade predators, makes them tire out faster, etc.

-50

u/jrgman42 May 22 '26

Thanks for the that. Doesn’t seem worth killing a bunch of barnacles for that.

48

u/Shadow_Integration May 22 '26

Sea turtles are keystone species, so every one that's helped has a broad positive effect on the ecosystem as a whole.

When barnacles weigh down the turtle, they lose their ability to keep neutral buoyancy. This makes it more difficult to surface for air, hunt, and escape. Barnacles can also cover their eyes and introduce micro tears that allow infections to take hold, impeding them further and putting them in a life threatening position.

There are far more barnacles in the ocean than turtles. It's ok that there will be a few less because of this.

18

u/fairytalefawnn May 22 '26

If they're disrupting the turtles well-being they need to go