Rare WHITE baby Sea Turtle Spotted on South Carolina Beach, go Viral because it’s so Cute

Volunteers checking sea turtle nests on a South Carolina beach came upon a rare sight: a white sea turtle hatchling crawling across the sand.

The town of Kiawah Island posted on its Facebook page that the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol found a lone white baby sea turtle that made its way to a public accessible beach. Photos show a tiny turtle that is a creamy white color rather than the more typical gray or green of a sea turtle – or reddish brown in the case that this is a loggerhead turtle.

Officials say the hatchling may have been born with a genetic condition called leucism, which causes a reduction in pigment.

Volunteers checking sea turtle nests on a South Carolina beach came upon a rare sight: a white sea turtle hatchling crawling across the sand’Leucism is different from albinism, as albino animals have a complete loss of pigment, leaving them completely white with red or pink eyes,’ town officials posted. 

The condition is described as extremely rare, but it is not clear exactly how often such turtles are found in the wild. Although it may appear similar to albinism, leucism does not leave creatures with red or pink eyes.  Town officials also shared that this is an abnormal genetic defect and no a useful one.

The town of Kiawah Island posted on its Facebook page that the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol found a lone white baby sea turtle that made its way to a public accessible beach

Photos show a tiny turtle that is a creamy white color rather than the more typical gray or green of a sea turtle – or reddish brown in the case that this is a loggerhead turtle’Camouflage is important to all animals, particularly very small sea turtle hatchlings that are predated on by almost everything,’ reads a Facebook post.’So, to be born white makes you stand out and very visible to predators.’

Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings are typically two inches long, but can grow up to 3.5 feet and weigh more than 375 pounds as adults.Females lay eggs under the sand and when the hatchlings break from their shells, they make the journey to the ocean.

Nesting occurs on Kiawah Island from May 1 to October 31, with 80 percent hatching by September.  The rare white hatchling is said to came from a nest on Beachwalker Park and trekked onto the beach where there is public access, which is how it was first spotted, the Charlotte Observer reports. Earlier this month, deep-sea fishers pulled an all-white shark off the coast of Britain near the Isle of Wight, which has the same genetic disorder as the hatchling found in South Carolina.

The condition is described as extremely rare, but it is not clear exactly how often such turtles are found in the wild

Earlier this month, deep-sea fishers pulled an all-white shark off the coast of Britain near the Isle of Wight, which has the same genetic disorder as the hatchling found in South CarolinaJason Gillespie, 50, was deep-sea fishing with some friends when he caught a three-foot long tope shark that was entirely white.  ‘I’ve been fishing for 30 years and I’ve never seen one like that, Gillespie shared.’ Apparently it’s a condition where the pigment dies out of the skin color.’

‘I think generally if they lose their color they struggle to survive because they don’t have the same camouflage and they can’t hunt as effectively and they get picked up by predators.”With tope, they are a protected species, so we unhook them in the water, but the minute we saw this one I shouted to my mate to grab the net and knew I needed to get some photos of it so we pulled her on board and took some pictures.’

‘We released her as quick as possible, she was only on the boat for less than a minute.’ What is Leucism?  Leucism is a genetic disorder that causes a drop in pigment, which can occur in both humans and the animal kingdom. Leucism does not eliminate all pigment, so the eyes are not red or pink like those with albinism.It causes the skin, fur or feathers to turn completely white or just patches.

During development, a structure called the neural crest forms near what will later become the spine of the animal. Cells that grow here will migrate and give rise to an almost unbelievable variety of cells, including melanocytes, cells which produce the pigment melanin. For creatures and humans that are extremely white, it’s the migration that’s being interrupted by leucism.