Last week, a family walking the beach on the Gulf Coast of Texas spotted an unusual sight in the sand in front of them.
Though it appeared be an odd mass of algae and barnacles washed upon the shore, a closer look revealed the heartbreaking truth.
It was, in fact, a loggerhead sea turtle clinging to life — her face, shell and flippers covered in harmful growth.
Fearing for the turtle’s well-being, the family was soon on the phone with the (GCSTR). Their rescue and recovery team rushed to transport the turtle to their rehabilitation hospital for treatment.
Sadly, finding sea turtles in this condition isn’t uncommon — but she could still be saved.
“These sea turtles often strand with epibiota — organisms living on the surface of one another. They become heavily encrusted when they are ill and tend to move less and float at the surface more,” GCSTR. “This patient washed in with a variety of algae, acorn barnacles, gooseneck barnacles, worms, crabs, skeleton shrimp, bryozoans, and other small invertebrates.”
In this case, help was on the way.
Over the days that followed, rescuers meticulously cleaned the harmful growth from around the sea turtle’s body — offering untold relief for the struggling animal.
“She was weighed down, with barnacles embedded in her soft tissues and mouth,” GCSTR wrote.
But now she’s free of those life-threatening burdens.
A spokesperson for GCSTR told The Dodo that, since the vigorous cleaning, the sea turtle’s condition has begun improving, saying: “[She] is doing well, eating now, and gaining weight.”
She’s also finally able to swim normally again.
Although rescuers say she’s not entirely out of the woods just yet, they “will continue to meticulously care for her.” And, with any luck, she’ll be released back into the sea to swim free yet again — thanks to all those who helped her along the way.