It looked wrong the second I saw it. The kind of wrong that makes your stomach clench before your brain even catches up. Half-buried in the sand, its swollen body and torn, rubbery skin barely resembled anything recognizable. A broken section of shell lay nearby, making it seem as though some mysterious creature had washed ashore after a violent struggle. My imagination filled in the blanks with frightening possibilities, and the longer I stared, the stranger it looked.

Curiosity eventually overcame fear, and I searched for an explanation. The answer was far less mysterious, but no less sobering. It was a dead sea turtle in an advanced stage of decomposition. As sea turtles break down, gases produced during the process can cause the body to swell dramatically. The skin loosens, tissues begin to collapse, and parts of the shell or limbs may separate, leaving the animal looking almost unrecognizable.