Rare albino turtle hatchling found in Australia

YAROOMBA, Australia, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Animal care volunteers in Australia discovered a rare albino turtle hatchling making its way out of a nest.

The baby turtle, who staff at Coolum District Coast Care Group named Alby, is a green turtle only in name as its skin is actually white with pink accents, as seen in photos shared to Facebook.

"Alby was the straggler in the nest, with his siblings having hatched on Friday evening when no-one was watching," Coolum District Coast Care Group wrote on Facebook. "Our volunteers found him just under the sand when collecting the data from the hatched nest."

The rare turtle was one of 122 hatchlings to make its way from the nest on Friday and was the first ever albino discovered by the group in nine years.

Unfortunately, Coolum District Coast Care Group President Linda Warneminde said that Alby's rare coloring may hurt its already low survival rate.

"In normal hatchlings there's one in 1,000 that reaches maturity," she told ABC Sunshine Coast.

Green turtles face threats from debris and fisherman in addition to natural predators that are more likely to target Alby due to its light coloring according to Threatened Species Unit chief scientist, Dr. Col Limpus.

"They're not particularly suited with color patterns that would blend and camouflage within the environment and they're more likely to be taken by predators," he said.