Rare two-headed baby turtle found on South Carolina beach
- 5 years ago
This rare two-headed turtle amazed beachgoers when it was found scampering along the sand.
The hatchling was spotted trying to walk towards the ocean on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina on August 28.
However, the mutation had also caused its shell to be deformed resulting in the baby turtle having difficulty crawling across the sand.
Volunteer Jayme Davidson-Lopko noticed the loggerhead sea turtle while monitoring the beach for turtle nests.
He picked up the little fella for a picture before releasing it. Jayme nicknamed the turtle Squirt and Crush after the 2003 animated film "Finding Nemo".
Jayme said: "This is only the second time I recall in 15 years finding a two-headed turtle. He was alive and well. However, he could not crawl due to his shell being abnormally shaped.
"This little guy was on his own just like his brothers and sisters that came from the nest and like they have been doing for millions of years.''
Jayme, who works with Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island, said that even though the hatchling was handicapped by its misshapen shell, he put it back onto the sand so it could try to make its way towards the sea.
He added: "Sea Turtle Patrol follows rules set by the State Department of Natural Resources which calls for us to protect the nests and turtles but to also allow as natural a process as possible. We do not take hatchlings off the beach to raise or rehabilitate."
Loggerheads nest on all areas of Hilton Head's sandy shore with an average of 250 nests recorded each season.
The Sea Turtle Patrol group said that the two-headed turtle was ''very rare''.
They added: ''The bicephalic hatchling was discovered during a beach patrol. This mutation is more common in reptiles than in other animals but it is still very rare. As with other live hatchlings found during a nest inventory, this hatchling was released to the ocean. Good luck to Squirt and Crush!''
The loggerhead sea turtle is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The hatchling was spotted trying to walk towards the ocean on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina on August 28.
However, the mutation had also caused its shell to be deformed resulting in the baby turtle having difficulty crawling across the sand.
Volunteer Jayme Davidson-Lopko noticed the loggerhead sea turtle while monitoring the beach for turtle nests.
He picked up the little fella for a picture before releasing it. Jayme nicknamed the turtle Squirt and Crush after the 2003 animated film "Finding Nemo".
Jayme said: "This is only the second time I recall in 15 years finding a two-headed turtle. He was alive and well. However, he could not crawl due to his shell being abnormally shaped.
"This little guy was on his own just like his brothers and sisters that came from the nest and like they have been doing for millions of years.''
Jayme, who works with Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island, said that even though the hatchling was handicapped by its misshapen shell, he put it back onto the sand so it could try to make its way towards the sea.
He added: "Sea Turtle Patrol follows rules set by the State Department of Natural Resources which calls for us to protect the nests and turtles but to also allow as natural a process as possible. We do not take hatchlings off the beach to raise or rehabilitate."
Loggerheads nest on all areas of Hilton Head's sandy shore with an average of 250 nests recorded each season.
The Sea Turtle Patrol group said that the two-headed turtle was ''very rare''.
They added: ''The bicephalic hatchling was discovered during a beach patrol. This mutation is more common in reptiles than in other animals but it is still very rare. As with other live hatchlings found during a nest inventory, this hatchling was released to the ocean. Good luck to Squirt and Crush!''
The loggerhead sea turtle is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.