A turtle hatchling with two heads was seen on the shores of Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, United States.
The two-headed animal was found during an inventory of turtle nests, by members of a nonprofit organization, Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island, last Wednesday, Aug. 28.
“The mutation is more common in reptiles than in other animals but it is still very rare,” the team’s Facebook page stated in its post on the same day.
Despite the rarity of the condition, the group’s leader, marine biologist Amber Kuehn told The Island Packet on Wednesday, Aug. 28 that “it’s not anything to raise a red flag about.”
The mutation is usually the result of random genetic occurrences, Kuehn said in the report, instead of human disturbances and environmental issues.
She also explained that she had already seen these types of mutations before on the island.
The organization named the turtle’s two heads Squirt and Crush, a reference to characters in the 2003 animated film “Finding Nemo”.
The two-headed animal was later released into the ocean, although it is not expected to stay alive for long.
“It couldn’t really swim,” Kuehn was quoted as saying. “One head governed one side [of the turtle’s body] on the front, and [the] other head governed the other flipper. They weren’t working together.” Ryan Arcadio/JB
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