InterestingFacts: Sea Turtles Cry Out Excess Salt

 Turtle nesting on beach.

Credit: GKlps/ Shutterstock

Sea Turtles Cry Out Excess Salt

If you look closely, you may notice a sea turtle crying when it comes ashore. It’s not because it’s sad — it’s because their bodies take in more salt from the sea than they can excrete in their urine. They have a gland in each eye that excretes salt into their tears. It’s always working, but it only looks like tears outside the water. Some butterflies in the western Amazon, low on reliable sources of sodium, gather around river turtles and drink their tears, too.


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