The odds may have been stacked against this little trooper, but Alby the tenacious baby turtle shocked everyone with his unique coloring and determination for making it all the way to the ocean.
Alby was just one of the 122 baby turtles from his nest, yet was left behind when all his brothers and sisters hatched days earlier and made their way to the ocean. Volunteers from the Coolum and North Shore Coast Care group went to check the nest a few days later to collect data, but spotted the straggler laying on his back in the sand at the bottom of the nest.
The volunteer environmental group have been monitoring the beaches where Alby was born for 9 years, yet he was the first albino Green turtle the group had ever seen at the site. In fact, albino turtles only occur every once in hundreds of thousands of eggs.
Green turtle hatchlings have their work cut out for them as it is with predators and habitat loss, but this unique baby has an even tougher road ahead. “Normally they don’t survive coming out of the nest, and when they do, they’re abnormal and not well suited to the environment,” said Dr. Col Limpus.
Despite the odds being low for the baby turtle to make it out of the nest, Alby looked strong as he managed to crawl all the way to the water to begin his journey from his birthplace to the continental shelf.
Can you believe this rare baby turtle managed to make it all the way to the water unharmed? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image credit: Facebook/Coolum District Coast Care Group]