The sea creature arrived at San Diego's Birch Aquarium in 2014 Ingrid Vasquez is a Digital News Writer at PEOPLE. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor in Journalism.

Sea turtles can survive being struck by a boat propeller — but as they heal from the trauma, their shells often change shape, bulging from air building up within their bodies. That throws the animals' ...

Cartoons often suggest turtles wear shells like removable armor. Those stories show turtles stepping out, swapping shells, or treating them like clothing. Biology disagrees. A turtle shell is not an ...