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.

‘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.

Αssociate professor Mehmet Gokoglu from the marine-biology department at the Αk 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’.