A rare white sea turtle hatchling was spotted crawling across the sand by volunteers with the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol while they were checking sea turtle nests on the beach over the weekend.
A Facebook post from the Town of Kiawah Island SC, shared that the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol had discovered a white colored sea turtle hatchling along the beach on Sunday morning.
Typically, a baby loggerhead sea turtle is gray and green in color.
The turtle is believed to have a genetic condition called leucism, which causes animals to have reduced pigmentation.
Leucism is inherently different from albinism with albino animals having a complete loss of pigment, leaving them completely white with red or pink eyes.
A sea turtle like this is extremely rare and the condition reduces its chance of surviving because of a lack of natural camouflage.
We certainly wish the little cutie luck on its journey!
Read more about amazing Lowcountry wildlife in Beaufort Outdoors.
