Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 149, May 2017, pp. 1-30. | Page 22

22 permanent shallow-water lifestyle. It is speculated that they take twenty to fifty years to reach sexual maturity. Individuals live up to eighty years in the wild. It is estimated that only 1% of hatchlings reach sexual maturity (Wikipedia). Each year on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, Chelonia mydas females create 6,000 to 25,000 nests. They are among the largest green turtles in the world; many are more than a metre in length and weigh up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) (Wikipedia). Prof. Dr. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa with a Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) carapace at Al-Arsa Souk in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. 19.12.2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/11792225256/ Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 149 – May 2017