Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 149, May 2017, pp. 1-30. | Page 16

16 Hawaiian subpopulation nest at the protected French Frigate Shoals some 800 kilometers (500 mi) west of the Hawaiian Islands. In the Philippines, green turtles nest in the Turtle Islands along with closely related hawksbill turtles. Indonesia has a few nesting beaches, one in the Meru Betiri National Reserve in East Java. The Coral Sea has nesting areas of world significance. The Great Barrier Reef has two genetically distinct populations; one north and one south. Within the reef, twenty separate locations consisting of small islands and cays were identified as nesting sites for either population of C. mydas. Of these, the most important is on Raine Island. Major nesting sites are common on either side of the Arabian Sea, both in Ash Sharqiyah, Oman, and along the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. Some specific beaches there, such as Hawke's Bay and Sandspit, are common to both Chelonia mydas and the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) subpopulation. Sandy beaches along Sindh and Balochistan are nesting sites. Some 25 kilometers (16 mi) off the Pakistani coast, Astola Island is another nesting beach (Wikipedia). Other nesting areas are on the sandy beaches and islands of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. On 30 December 2007, fishermen using a hulbot-hulbot (a type of fishnet) accidentally caught an 80 kg (180 lb), 93 cm (37 in) and 82 cm (32 in) wide, turtle off Barangay Bolong, Zamboanga City, Philippines. December is breeding season near the Bolong beach (Wikipedia). My beloved wife Ola Mostafa Khalaf snorkeling near a Sea Turtle in the Celebes Sea waters of the Mataking Island, Sabah, Malaysia. February 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/19774954810/ Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 149 – May 2017