They can live to 100 years old, are long-distance travellers and many of the world’s species call the UAE their home.
To mark World Sea Turtle Day on Sunday, here are 10 things you may not know about them:
1. Sea turtles can live a long time - possibly more than 100 years
One of the oldest living turtles is a green turtle named Myrtle, who has lived in the Giant Ocean Tank in New England Aquarium since 1970.
She is more than 90 years old, weighs more than 200 kilograms and eats lettuce, cabbage, squids and Brussels sprouts.
Contrary to popular belief, you can not tell the age of a turtle by its size, although older turtles do tend to be larger than juveniles.
The order of reptiles to which turtles belong – Testudines – is also one of the oldest, more ancient than snakes or crocodilians.
The reptiles date from the Middle Jurassic period, 164 million to 174 million years ago, when dinosaurs such as the megalosaurus roamed the Earth.
2. Of the seven species of turtles found in the world’s oceans, five can be found in the UAE
The hawksbill turtle, loggerhead turtle, and green turtle have settled in the Emirates, while the leatherback turtle and olive ridley sea turtle are migratory species.
Nearly all seven species of sea turtle are classified as endangered and that is mostly a result of human activity.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, accidental capture by fishing gear is the greatest threat to most sea turtles, plus the beaches upon which they depend for nesting are disappearing.
The best place to see turtles in the UAE in the wild is along the coast of Fujairah in springtime.
3. Dubai’s Crown Prince is a big fan of turtles
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed personally released several hatchlings in 2020, and he posted pictures of himself with some of the rehabilitated animals on World Sea Turtle Day last year.
But he’s not the only Emirati sheikh making turtle conservation a priority.
Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi from Sharjah has also rescued two turtles in the past 12 months, including one he named Farah, who had to have a flipper amputated after fishing wire cut into her limb.
Fortunately, thanks to the team at Burj Al Arab Aquarium, Farah is swimming once again and recuperating in the Turtle Rehabilitation Sanctuary at Jumeirah Al Naseem hotel.
4. The UAE is home to the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project
The project is run in collaboration with Dubai’s Wildlife Protection Office.
And its managers say it is the only scheme of its kind in the Middle East and Red Sea region.
Marine biologists there have successfully returned more than 2,000 turtles to the Arabian Gulf from all over the UAE since the project’s inception in 2004, with an average annual rescue of 225 turtles in recent years.
Veterinary support is provided by the Dubai Falcon Hospital and the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, and funding is in part provided by Dubai’s Crown Prince.
5. Turtles are not as quiet as you might expect
They do not have vocal cords but they can still make a variety of sounds depending on their species.
Some turtles can cluck, some make dog-like barks, while others make a high-pitched whining sound.
Baby sea turtles even make noises before hatching. Scientists have recorded them chirping and grunting and speculate that the sounds help them to co-ordinate hatching.
6. Male sea turtles never leave the ocean
But females come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the nesting season.
They always lay their eggs on the same beach but once they are buried, the females return to the sea.
The eggs hatch after several months and the hatchlings race for the sea before they can be eaten by crabs or seagulls.
Hawksbills are the only sea turtles that lay their eggs in the UAE and hatchlings have been spotted on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat beach and on Bu Tinah, a tiny cluster of islands located in the Marawah marine reserve.
In a single nesting season, females lay between two and six clutches of eggs, each containing 65 to 180 eggs.
The clutches are laid approximately every two weeks, but females do not necessarily lay every year.
Sometimes there can be a gap of nine years in between each nesting season, and it can take more than 20 years for sea turtles to reach breeding age.
Climate change seems to affect the sex of the hatchlings, with warmer nests leading to more females.
7. Depending on their species, sea turtles eat a variety of different foods
Everything from seaweed to jellyfish, plus barnacles, sponges and sea anemones.
Green turtles are herbivores and primarily eat sea grasses and algae.
The turtles in the Turtle Rehabilitation Sanctuary at Jumeirah Al Naseem are fed on a diet of premium squid.
Unfortunately, baby sea turtles and adults frequently mistake rubbish and objects such as tar balls for food and ingest them.
This is another reason why they are endangered.
8. Few predators for adult sea turtles
Only sharks and other large fish hunt and consume juvenile and adult sea turtles.
But the babies and ping-pong sized eggs are much more vulnerable, with foxes, weasels, cats, dogs, raccoons, crabs and other animals vying to eat them on land.
It is estimated that only one in 1,000 hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
9. Sea turtles are long-distance swimmers
They migrate between foraging and nesting grounds, and seasonally to warmer waters.
Often these migrations take them hundreds and even thousands of miles, and several tagged turtles have been monitored from the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project at Burj Al Arab.
One amphibian called Dibba travelled 8,600 kilometres from the UAE to Thailand in 2008, before the transmitter stopped working.
Globally that journey was beaten a turtle named Yoshi that swam from Australia to the waters of Angola – and back – in a record trip of 35,400km.
10. No one really knows where baby sea turtles live
Until recently scientists had little understanding of the location of hatchlings in the time period between their first dip in the ocean, and a decade later, when they return to coastal areas as juveniles.
Marine biologists called this period the “lost years”.
The mystery was solved once radio transmitters become small enough to fix them to baby turtle shells.
Now scientists know that oceanic currents disperse the tiny creatures out into the open ocean, away from the predators that live in shallow water near the shore, but much more research is needed.
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041mm%2C%20352%20x%20430%3B%2045mm%2C%20396%20x%20484%3B%20Retina%20LTPO%20OLED%2C%20up%20to%201000%20nits%2C%20always-on%3B%20Ion-X%20glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20S8%2C%20W3%20wireless%2C%20U1%20ultra-wideband%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2032GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20watchOS%209%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EHealth%20metrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203rd-gen%20heart%20rate%20sensor%2C%20temperature%20sensing%2C%20ECG%2C%20blood%20oxygen%2C%20workouts%2C%20fall%2Fcrash%20detection%3B%20emergency%20SOS%2C%20international%20emergency%20calling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GPS%2FGPS%20%2B%20cellular%3B%20Wi-Fi%2C%20LTE%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Apple%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDurability%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20IP6X%2C%20water%20resistant%20up%20to%2050m%2C%20dust%20resistant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20308mAh%20Li-ion%2C%20up%20to%2018h%2C%20wireless%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECards%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20eSIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinishes%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aluminium%20%E2%80%93%20midnight%2C%20Product%20Red%2C%20silver%2C%20starlight%3B%20stainless%20steel%20%E2%80%93%20gold%2C%20graphite%2C%20silver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Watch%20Series%208%2C%20magnetic-to-USB-C%20charging%20cable%2C%20band%2Floop%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Starts%20at%20Dh1%2C599%20(41mm)%20%2F%20Dh1%2C999%20(45mm)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The years Ramadan fell in May
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GROUPS
Group Gustavo Kuerten
Novak Djokovic (x1)
Alexander Zverev (x3)
Marin Cilic (x5)
John Isner (x8)
Group Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer (x2)
Kevin Anderson (x4)
Dominic Thiem (x6)
Kei Nishikori (x7)
Afro%20salons
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Results
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Al Mureib, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Meshakel, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Sharamm, Ryan Curatlo, Satish Seemar
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Frankenstein in Baghdad
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Penguin Press
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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The five pillars of Islam
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
