What Brings Dozens of Female Sharks to Israel’s Shore Every Year?

Scientists can’t explain why the dusky sharks return year after year, what they eat while they’re here and where they disappear to in the spring.

What is so special about this site that attracts 40 sharks? Perhaps it’s the warm water that the Israel Electric Corporation’s Orot Rabin power plant discharges into the Mediterranean. Researchers believe the sharks are attracted to the warmth — 10 degrees Celsius above the sea temperature elsewhere in the area. The sharks come in December and stay until the end of March. Where do they swim to afterward? No one has a clear answer yet. The research has just begun; there are many questions and few agreed-upon answers based on known facts at this time. What is certain, however, is that the tourism boom is already in full swing.

The dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) that visits Israel’s shores is in danger of extinction because of the demand for shark fin soup. If we look at the top marine predators, we find that the whales are hunted and the sea turtles have almost disappeared. Sharks and tuna are among the few remaining top predators. Last year, toward the end of the winter, male sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) also arrived and stayed at the site alongside the female dusky sharks.

The site in Hadera provides fantastic laboratory conditions. The place is easily accessible, the water is shallow and the convenient conditions make it possible to develop new tracking methods. The researchers are currently engaged mainly in acoustic and satellite tagging. Both kinds of tracking will in future enable scientists to follow the sharks’ movement and understand the size of the population, the frequency with which individuals come to Hadera and the purpose of their stay here.

We really like diving!
And we seem to have found our next dive site !!!

Great day!!