SHIPWRECK CLASS: HULL TURTLE Risk Assessment Score 2: Usually nonaggressive, but will note and react to human presence. Avoid if possible. Hull turtles are the most commonly formed Shipwreck species. They’re frequently found living in groups on shoals and rock formations where wrecks are common, where they lead uneventful lives and pose little threat to others. They are so sedentary in their day-to-day existence that native wildlife have no qualms about making their homes on and around these small living mountains. The exception is when a turtle goes into molt; they form thick shells from the wreckage of the initial vessel that spawned them and detritus that floats into their vicinity, but over time they outgrow this like a hermit crab and seek out a more suitable home. This transitional period, occurring once every fifty years or so, is the one time where they become a threat to ships as they select and attack a suitable vessel for a new shell. Coastal cities with the infrastructure to do so will often supply “ship shells” for their resident hull turtle populations in an effort to protect commercial vessels in use by humans. (description edited and expanded by @medikalemergency)
