A very rare albino sea turtle was spotted on a Queensland beach

    A very rare albino sea turtle was spotted on a Queensland beach

    A newborn albino green turtle has been spotted on a beach on Lady Elliot Island, Queensland. Unfortunately, however, his chances of survival are very low.

    A newborn albino green turtle has been spotted on a beach in Lady Elliot Island, nel Queensland. The tiny pink sea creature was spotted by Jessica Buckman a Great Barrier Reef scholar who, seeing the turtle in distress, immediately intervened to help it get into the water.





    For the Australian researcher, seeing a baby albino turtle was a very unique experience.

    “I was very shocked. It was really special to see this scene, ”she said.

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    A post shared by Jessica ? (@elephantasia)

    And indeed albino tortoises are very rare creatures. According to researcher Jim Buck, who has been monitoring sea turtles on the Great Barrier Reef for over 30 years, only one in 100.000 is born albino and unfortunately their chances of survival are lower than those of other turtles. In fact, only one in a thousand can reach adulthood.

    "I believe there have been a couple of them here in Lady Elliot in the past, but it's not something we see regularly," Buck explained.

    The last sighting of an albino sea turtle occurred in 2016 on the Sunshine Coast. Albinism is a hereditary disease characterized by a total or partial absence of pigmentation. As clarified by researcher Buck, "the amount of melanin in the system determines the color of the animal and in this particular case the animal had a white or pink color, indicating that the melanin was absent or very low".

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by Jessica ? (@elephantasia)


    Due to their reduced vision and greater difficulty in camouflaging, albino tortoises are unfortunately very vulnerable and cannot survive as easily as others.



    Source: Instagram/ABC News

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