Sea turtles are able to eat jellyfish because they have a special organ in their mouth called a toothcomb. The toothcomb is made of keratin, which is the same material that make up human hair and fingernails. , and it has rows of tiny teeth on its surface. The toothcomb is used to scrape the jellyfish’s stinging cells off the turtle’s tongue and throat.
The toothcomb is not present in all species of sea turtles, but some sea turtles have a different way to remove jellyfish from their mouths. One type of sea turtle, the green turtle, can use its hooked beak to break open the jellyfish’s armor without getting stung.