Two-headed dolphin washes up on beach in Turkey
A two-headed dolphin has washed up on a beach in Turkey.
The conjoined body was found in Izmir on Turkey's west coast on Monday by sports teacher Tugrul Metin.
It is believed the calf was 12 months old and measured just 3.2ft in length.
According to the Daily Mail, Mr Metin said: "I noticed the dolphin in the sea and watched as it washed on to the beach.
"I couldn't take it in at first - I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me - I've never even heard about a dolphin like this let alone seen one with my own eyes - I was completely shocked."
Associate professor Mehmet Gokoglu from the marine-biology department at the Ak Deniz University described it as a "very rare occurrence".
It's not the first time something similar has been seen, however. Back in January, a two-headed baby gray whale reportedly washed up on a beach in Baja, California, reports Elite Daily.
In March 2013, a Florida fisherman got a surprise when he caught a bull shark - and found a live two-headed foetus inside the animal.
The fisherman released the other shark offspring, which were able to swim away, but kept the specimen and passed it on to scientists who described it in a study published by the Journal of Fish Biology.
According to discovery.com, Michael Wagner, co-author of the paper and assistant professor at Michigan State University department of fisheries and wildlife, said it is one of only six examples of a two-headed shark ever recorded, and the first time this has been seen in a bull shark.
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