Two-Headed Sea Turtle Discovered at a State Park in South Carolina

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First Published: 8:31 AM PDT, July 31, 2021

A two-headed turtle is not that uncommon. They're a result of genetic mutation and many have been found in the past.

Quite a discovery was made at Edisto Beach State Park in South Carolina during a recent nest inventory: a two-headed sea turtle hatchling.

Three to five days after a sea turtle nest shows signs of a major emergence, park patrollers explore to determine what was hatched, unhatched, and to possibly find live hatchlings.

“While performing an inventory this past Wednesday, patrollers and volunteers found three alive loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings still in the chamber, but one hatchling in particular stood out because it had two heads!” South Carolina State Parks wrote on Facebook.

“This two-headed hatchling is the result of a genetic mutation. Other two-headed hatchlings have been found in South Carolina in past years, but this is a first for the patrol team at Edisto Beach State Park.”

The statement added that after taking pictures of the unusual hatchling, it, along with the others, was released into the ocean.