Lone White Baby Sea Turtle Found in Kiawah Island

Earlier this month, Science Times reported that a man deep-fishing in the waters of Great Britain caught the first-ever albino shark. Indeed, it is very rare and incredible to find such animals in the wild. But a new discovery of a white animal was found this week when volunteers discovered a white baby sea turtle on a South Carolina beach in the town called Kiawah Island.

The Lone White Baby Sea Turtle

ABC News reported that volunteers were just checking the sea turtle nests in South Carolina when they happen to found a lone white baby sea turtle. The town shared some photos on Facebook of the rare white sea turtle crawling across the sand.

Rare sea turtle discovered on South Carolina beach in 'elusive' find
Volunteers in South Carolina checking on sea... Posted by HT Nguyen on Monday, 19 October 2020

The first time guests and students from the College of Charleston saw the leucistic hatchling in its nest, there were many 'oohs' and 'aahs' heard, which indicates disbelief and amazement among them for the rare find.

The photos showed that the baby sea turtle has a white creamy color rather than the typical color of sea turtles, which is gray or green. This condition is extremely rare, and it is still unclear until today on how often creatures like this are found in the wild.

Leucism vs. Albinism

The sea turtle conservation group, Olive Ridley Project, said that the lone baby white sea turtle found in South Carolina has a condition called leucism, which will make the turtle's surviving rate low as it lacks the ability to camouflage, Fox News reports.

During the first few months of their lives, sea turtles typically hide in the seaweeds in the ocean to grow as fast as they can so that predators will not attack them.

The conservation group also said that camouflage helps animals, particularly the small ones, to survive in an environment where predators are abundant. To be born white makes them stand out and very visible to predators.

But how does an organism with leucism differ from those with albinism? Yes, they look almost the same, but their eyes differ from each other.

For albino animals, they have pale eyes that are often pink or red as their blood vessels are visible. But for animals with leucism, they have black eyes.

Moreover, albinism condition is caused by a lack of melanin in the body, which is responsible for the pigment that gives color to the skin, feathers, hair, and eyes. Sometimes, albino animals are not only white but also yellowish in color.

Meanwhile, animals with leucism are also white but only suffers a partial loss of pigmentation. That means the animals may have white or patchily colored skin, hair, or feathers, but their eyes are not affected, unlike those with albinism condition.

Although the two conditions may seem similar at first sight, it is important to distinguish their physical properties by looking at them closely especially the eyes to see if it is black or red.

Check out more news and information on Albinism in Science Times.