A sea turtle initially weighed over 7 ½ pounds; her weight decreased to just over 6 pounds once experts cleaned her organism-covered shell.

While some epibiota, such as barnacles and algae, can be harmless, others can be harmful to marine life, according to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. When too many organisms get stuck to a turtle ...

This loggerhead sea turtle ... move less and float at the surface more,” the center wrote in an April 9 Facebook post. “This patient washed in with a variety of algae, acorn barnacles ...

Image: Barnacle Bill after she received treatment. Pic: SEA LIFE Brighton Of the seven species of sea turtle, three are classified as endangered, with two of those, Hawksbills and Kemp's Ridleys ...