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The body of a two-headed dolphin has washed up on a beach in Turkey this week.

The conjoined corpse was seen floating onto the shore in Izmir on Turkey's west coast on Monday by sports teacher Tugrul Metin.

The dead dolphin was believed to be a one-year-old calf measuring just 3.2ft in length.

The body of a two-headed dolphin has washed up on a beach in Turkey this week

It had two heads but merged to share just one tail.

Mr Metin, 39, said: 'I noticed the dolphin in the sea and watched as it washed on to the beach.  

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'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.'

The stunned teacher called the police who came and removed the dolphin to a laboratory for further investigation.

Early reports said the eyes on one of the dolphin heads were not properly opened - neither was one of the blow holes.

Associate professor Mehmet Gokoglu from the marine-biology department at the Ak Deniz University said he welcomed the opportunity to study the strange dolphin adding: 'Such a dolphin is a very rare occurance - similar to the occurrence of conjoined human twins'.