EcoOcean is an Israeli non-profit organization that has been working since 2002 towards maintaining a healthy marine environment in the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The organization’s team of Israeli scientists does this by conducting research and running ecological education programs. (You can read here about its director’s Andreas’ swim with the whales).
Education is a very important part of what EcoOcean is all about. The organization’s goals are to “make people more aware of the importance of maintaining a healthy and vibrant marine environment, motivate them to act and enjoy such an environment, and affect decision makers to promote legislation towards protecting it for the future.”
One of the the ways that EcoOcean achieves these goals is through their Megalim Center – a Hebrew pun that plays on the word for “discovery” as well as the word for “waves”. EcoOcean will be opening a new Megalim Center (and new offices) this week at Kibbutz Sdot Yam.
EcoOcean founder Andreas Weil
Closed to the public, the ceremony will inaugurate the new Megalim Center (which is intended mainly for students coming for day-long visits) for visitors to learn about:
* Typical ecosystems of the rocky, sandy, and estuarine shore in the Mediterranean
* Adaptations of animals and vegetation to these environments
* Impacts of man on coastal and marine environments
* Adaptations of organisms to environmental changes.
The hope is that the programs at the Megalim Center raise awareness and concern for the natural marine environment.
Read more about marine research all over the Middle East:
Monitoring Stations Installed in Qatar and UAE to Track Stressed Out Coral
Iran Battles Red Tide, A Soap-like Super Foam That’s Killing Fish
Jordan Authorities To Flag and Key Red Sea Green Beach Projects
::Ecoocean
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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