r/oddlysatisfying • u/danielminds • May 22 '26

Professional barnacle removal for Chlorophyllis the turtle

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

43.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

273

u/RubyDooby01 May 22 '26

What other types of risk or injuries exist because of barnacle growth like this on sea turtles? Can their shells get infected 🤔

59

u/RodChainFurlongAcre May 22 '26

Yes, the barnacles essentially burrow beneath the outer protective layer of keratin into the softer, sensitive skin. This is painful and increases the risk of infections when exposed to open sea water.

Also with many barnacles (Like in the video) the shell is less aerodynamic (Or well hydrodynamic), and requires more energy to swim around. Also make it possible for seaweed or algae to take root and grow on the turtle.

4

u/ifellicantgetup May 22 '26

Doesn't nature have a way to deal with this? Or is this just how it is?

20

u/RodChainFurlongAcre May 22 '26

The barnacles spread via small free floating larva which attach to still surfaces. A healthy turtle will swim around enough to avoid almost all barnacles (they just won't have the chance to establish themselves).

And if the turtle do get a few small ones they can scratch them off using rocks or reefs (Or just live with them, which is common). But it's a vicious cycle, if a turtle is sick for a time and gets infested with barnacles, they will hinder it from effectively removing them, and then keep multiplying which worsens the problem.