Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 108 , December 2013, pp. 1-25. | Page 5

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than the females', presumably to accommodate the males' larger tails. The carapaces of males are wider and less domed than the females', and males typically have wider heads than females. The sex of juveniles and subadults cannot be determined through external anatomy, but can be observed through dissection, laparoscopy (an operation performed on the abdomen), histological examination (cell anatomy), and radioimmunological assays (immune study dealing with radiolabeling) (Wikipedia). Lachrymal glands located behind each eye allow the loggerhead to maintain osmotic balance by eliminating the excess salt obtained from ingesting ocean water. On land, the excretion of excess salt gives the false impression that the turtle is crying (Wikipedia).

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is caught in the fishing net on the coast of Gaza, State of Palestine. 28.08.2013. Photo by Ihab Fasfous (Dunya Al Watan, 2013).

Distribution
The loggerhead sea turtle has a cosmopolitan distribution, nesting over the broadest geographical range of any sea turtle. It inhabits the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea (Wikipedia). In the Atlantic Ocean, the greatest concentration of loggerheads is along the southeastern coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico. Very few loggerheads are found along the European and African coastlines. Florida is the most popular nesting site, with more than 67,000 nests built per year. Nesting
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 108 – December 2013