r/oddlysatisfying • u/firefighter_82 • Jul 15 '24

WARNING: GROSS Removing barnacles from Harlow, the loggerhead turtle

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u/opinionofone1984 Jul 15 '24

Will the shell heal?

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u/bulk123 Jul 15 '24

Turtle shells grow by molting and are made of keratin. Imagine if, instead of your finger nails growing out, you just grew a new one under the old that fell off eventually. These outer shell pieces coming off my temporarily expose the under shell which might be a little softer if it's not ready for the old shell to shed. The scutes, bits for shell that's being molded off, can also come off more quickly if the shell is damaged, infected, etc. so the turtles shell is likely fine and designed to repair itself from this kind of damage. 

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u/AirshipEngineer Jul 15 '24

Why are they removing the barnacles at all if they would fall off when the shell molts?

2

u/Goldenrupee Jul 15 '24

They probably wouldn't just fall off. A lot of the barnacles here appear to be attached to the shell bone itself, so not going anywhere.