A joint study by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the University of Haifa set out to solve a scientific mystery: how a soft coral is able to perform the rhythmic, pulsating movements of its tentacles without a central nervous system. The study’s findings may change the way we understand movement in the animal kingdom in general and particularly in corals.

The study was led by Elinor Nadir, a PhD student at TAU, under the joint supervision of Professor Yehuda Benayahu of the School of Zoology at TAU’s George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and Professor Tamar Lotan of the Department of Marine Biology at the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa. The findings were published on November 11, 2025, in the scientific journal PNAS.

The research team discovered that the soft coral Xenia umbellata, one of the most spectacular corals on Red Sea reefs, drives the rhythmic movements of its eight polyp tentacles through a decentralized neural pacemaker system. Rather than relying on a central control center, a network of neurons distributed along the coral’s tentacle enables each one to perform the movement independently, while still achieving precise, collective synchronization.

“It’s a bit like an orchestra without a conductor,” explains Professor Tamar Lotan of the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa. “Each tentacle acts independently, but they are somehow able to ‘listen’ to each other and move in that perfect harmony that so captivates observers. This is a completely different model from how we understand rhythmic movement in other animals.”

Corals of the Xeniidae family are known for their hypnotic movements — the cyclic opening and closing of their tentacles. Until now, however, it was unclear how they perform this. To investigate, the researchers conducted cutting experiments on the coral’s tentacles and examined how they regenerated and restored their rhythmic motion. To their surprise, even when the tentacles were cut off and separated from the coral — and even when further divided into smaller fragments — each piece retained its ability to pulse independently.

Subsequently, the researchers conducted advanced genetic analyses and examined gene expression at different stages of tentacle regeneration after separation from the coral. They found that the coral uses the same genes and proteins involved in neural signal transmission in far more complex animals, including acetylcholine receptors and ion channels that regulate rhythmic activity. According to the researchers, this discovery suggests that the origin of rhythmic movements — familiar to us from those underlying breathing, heartbeat, or walking — is far more ancient than previously thought. The corals demonstrate how coordinated movement can emerge from a simple, distributed system, long before sophisticated control centers evolved in the brains of advanced animals.

“It is fascinating to reach the conclusion that the same molecular components that activate the pacemaker of the human heart are also at work in a coral that appeared in the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago,” Professor Benayahu adds. “The coral we studied allows us to look back in time, to the dawn of the evolution of the nervous system in the animal kingdom. It shows that rhythmic and harmonious movement can be generated even without a brain — through remarkable communication among nerve cells acting together as a smart network. There is no doubt that this study adds an important layer to our understanding of the wonders of the coral reef animal world in general, and of corals in particular, and underscores the paramount need to preserve these extraordinary natural ecosystems.”

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Europeans have flocked to dive sites in Egypt because of the low cost tourism and liveaboard boats. Sinai and Egyptian Red Sea coral reef diving is a 4-hour plane ride from Europe.

Now that Saudi Arabia is opening up to tourism, westerners can skip the controversial Maldive Islands and head to the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia instead. Built on a pristine island is Sheybara, a series of water pods that offer privacy, and exclusivity.

See more sea pods here.

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On November 25, a Red Sea dive boat capsized, leaving 44 tourists and crew fending for their lives. We have a saga of stories you can follow here about the Sea Story incident, including interviews with survivors. Timothy, a diver reached out to us hoping to raise concerns he had while diving in Egypt with the same company that charted the ill-fated Sea Story, but he travelled just a week earlier.

“I am a certified PADI divemaster with over 600 worldwide dives. I am not a survivor of the sinking – I was on a different boat the Sea Pearl, operated by the same company, during the week immediately previous to the sinking,” says Timothy, using his first name only.

Like survivors of the Sea Story, Timothy says Dive Pro transferred him to another boat last minute: “This often happens for operational reasons – desire to have boats travel fully booked; mechanical or logistical issues with the boats; crew availability; weather and conditions, etc. I had been booked onto the Tillis but was moved to the Sea Pearl about 48 hours before the trip was due to begin.

“This wasn’t an issue for me, but many others were annoyed that they could not travel on their preferred boat, or that they had paid for an upper-deck cabin but were now on the lower deck,” he says.

What message do you have for other divers booking liveaboard trips anywhere in the world?

“Be very aware of safety concerns when researching a Red Sea live-aboard trip. Review your chosen boat’s safety provisions. Book (and insist upon receiving) an upper-deck cabin.

“Familiarise you and your buddy with your life jackets.”

What message do you have for divers whose intuition tells you the boat isn’t safe? 

“Trust your intuition. However there is little you can do other than take safety into your own hands.”

Will you dive in Egypt again and if yes, with who?

“Likely, but perhaps shore dives, and with a different company, which I will thoroughly research.”

How many diving boat accidents were there in 2024 in Egypt?

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Neom is a megalomaniac’s dream in Saudi Arabia where dozens of towns, cities and resorts like The Line, a mile long city will cut through the desert to the Red Sea, and all join together in a futuristic utopia. The first of the endless series to be opened, claim the Saudis, is Sindalah an island covering 84 acres. It opened this month to the public with celebrities like Will Smith and Tom Brady smiling on location to bring the Americans over on their mega yachts.

Video via KSAProjects 

Saudi Arabia announces massive construction projects on a weekly basis hoping that its oil wealth will attract western tourists, as it builds out other dreams for its locals in a parallel universe.

Below is an image of the intended result. The two images below are the actual construction state of Sindalah.

Set to welcome up to 2,400 guests per day by 2028, the island will also generate around 3,500 jobs.

Boasting an “impressive marine ecosystem”, Neom developers provide no available reports on environmental assessment or how it will protect coral reefs, dolphins or marine life. We reached out and received no comment.

Sindalah’s PR unit says its surrounding waters are home to 1,100 species of fish – 45 of which are unique to NEOM waters, in addition to more than 300 coral species.

In line with Neom’s commitment to sustainability and conservation, preservation of Sindalah’s natural marine habitat has been central to the island’s development, and guests are invited to dive beneath the surface to explore its wonders for themselves, writes marketing material. Where are the commitments and environmental standards kept?

From What’s On Saudi Arabia: “Dozens of yachts from around the world have landed at the state-of-the-art marina at the Sindalah Yacht Club in NEOM as the destination approaches its grand opening. Also spotted on one of the super yachts was Tom Brady, the American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 23 seasons.”

We have dove off the waters of Egypt and no one is preparing you on how to behave in a coral reef environment. With luxury mega yachts expected to crash every party, how does Sindalah expect to protect the environment?

Sindalah will host 38 restaurants, nightlife and golfing for guests who can stay at none of 440 rooms and 88 villas, as well as 218 luxury serviced apartments.

Sinai, Egypt across the Red Sea still looks a lot more appealing. Plus it’s home to God’s mountain.

Trio of “luxury high-end boutique hotels” Leyja launched by Neom

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Zeroe, a UAE-based comprehensive carbon management company, will sponsor an artificial coral reef through Project Reefframe project, a pioneering initiative aimed at restoring and preserving coral ecosystems in the UAE. This sponsorship underscores Zeroe’s commitment to environmental sustainability and its recognition of the critical role oceans play in mitigating climate change.

As the United Nations highlights in Sustainable Development Goal 14, oceans are essential for life on Earth. They produce 50% of the oxygen we breathe, absorb 25% of carbon dioxide emissions, and capture 90% of excess heat generated by these emissions. This makes them a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.

However, oceans face unchartered threats from pollution, plastic waste, and rising temperatures. Coral reefs are experiencing alarming rates of degradation, impacting biodiversity and coastal communities. The United Arab Emirates is building artificial islands and industry that need to consider the future of its oceans.

Project Reeframe, led by Freestyle Divers, is a collaborative effort to rescue and restore coral reefs in the UAE. By creating artificial reefs and transplanting rescued coral fragments, the project aims to create thriving marine ecosystems that can withstand the challenges of climate change.

Darryl Owen, Owner and CEO of Freestyle Divers and Project Reeframe said, “This sponsorship will enable us to expand our efforts in rescuing and restoring coral reefs, ensuring their survival for future generations. Together, we can create a more sustainable future for our oceans and the communities that depend on them.”

Zeroe’s sponsorship of an artificial reef through Project Reeframe demonstrates the company’s dedication to environmental conservation. This initiative aligns with Zeroe’s broader sustainability goals and its belief in the power of technology, collaboration, and innovative thinking to drive positive change.

“Climate change is a complex problem that requires a systemic solution made up of many smaller efforts at all levels, simultaneously. We are proud to contribute to a project that is making a real difference in preserving these invaluable ecosystems,” said Lauren Haworth, Head of Marketing & Partnerships at Zeroe said.

Zeroe is a carbon management platform based in the UAE, which gives companies a way to measure, manage, and reduce their carbon footprint. By leveraging advanced artificial intelligence and adhering to the GHG Protocol, Zeroe simplifies carbon accounting, ensuring compliance and facilitating sustainable business practices.

Project Reeframe is a pioneering coral reef restoration project based in the UAE, run by Freestyle Divers. By creating artificial reefs and transplanting rescued coral fragments, Project Reeframe aims to restore damaged reefs, promote biodiversity, and enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems.

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“If you remove all the scum suckers in the great fish tank of Earth, you’re going to get a dirty tank eventually”

Known as the rainforests of the sea, coral reefs create habitats for 25% of all marine organisms, despite only covering less than 1% of the ocean’s area.  Coral patches the width and height of basketball arenas used to be common throughout the world’s oceans. But due to numerous human-generated stresses and coral disease, which is known to be associated with ocean sediments, most of the world’s coral is gone.

“It’s like if all the pine trees in Georgia disappeared over a period of 30 to 40 years,” said Mark Hay, Regents’ Chair and the Harry and Anna Teasley Chair in Environmental Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Just imagine how that affects biodiversity and ecosystems of the ocean.”

Read Also: Houthis sink Red Sea ship putting reefs at risk

In first-of-its-kind research, Hay, along with research scientist Cody Clements, discovered a crucial missing element that plays a profound role in keeping coral healthy — an animal of overlooked importance known as a sea cucumber.

Their study, undertaken in remote tropical islands in the Pacific, investigated the role that sea cucumbers play in coral health. The small, unassuming, sediment-eating organisms function like autonomous vacuum cleaners of the ocean floor.

But, because they have been overharvested for decades for food and cannot reproduce effectively when in low densities, they are now rare and slow to recover following harvests. They have been gone so long that it wasn’t known exactly how important they are — until now.

“We knew that removing big predators has cascading effects that commonly change how ecosystems are organized and how they function,” said Hay. “What we didn’t know is what would happen following removal of detritivores — or as we like to call them, the janitors of the system.”

The team’s research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

A Missing Component

The idea began when Hay saw an etching of a 19th-century sailing ship in a Fiji museum. The caption explained that the ship was leaving Fiji carrying many tons of dried sea cucumbers. Hay realized that the creatures he would rarely see while diving and working around reefs had likely once covered the bottom of shallow tropical oceans.

Sea cucumbers are invertebrate sea animals that come in all different sizes, colors, and shapes. They lie on and burrow under the sand all day, sucking, digesting, and excreting sediment, consuming bacteria and other organics. Hay and Clements were curious about the role sea cucumbers played when they were abundant. But it wasn’t until Clements was doing unrelated field work in Mo’orea, a tropical island in French Polynesia, that an opportunity presented itself.

Clements, who has worked in coral restoration for years, has planted upwards of 10,000 corals in his career. He was planting corals in the sand just off the island shore, in an area where many sea cucumbers were present. He decided to clear out the sea cucumbers from the area because there were so many.

He noticed that the corals started to die, which seemed unusual.

Read Also: Artificial reefs take the pressure off the natural reefs letting them recover

“I’ve planted a lot of corals in my day, and my corals generally don’t die,” Clements said. “So I thought there must be something to this.”

Hay and Clements set up patches to monitor coral health with and without the presence of sea cucumbers. They marked the patches via GPS and went to check them daily.

For the patches without sea cucumbers, they often observed a white band developing at the base of the corals, which would work its way up and eventually kill the entire colony. It was a hallmark of sediment-associated coral diseases seen around the world.

The presence of sea cucumbers seemed to suppress coral disease. They observed that corals without sea cucumbers present were 15 times more likely to die. They did a similar experiment in Palmyra Atoll, which is part of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands that is protected by the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In Palmyra, the experiment had different coral species and different sea cucumbers, but they found similar results — suggesting a robust interaction.

“If you remove all the scum suckers in the great fish tank of Earth, you’re going to get a dirty tank eventually,” Clements said. “People have paid lip service to the idea that sea cucumbers could be important for a long time, but we didn’t know the scale of their importance until now.

“Basically, we’ve been polluting our environs at the same time that we’ve removed all the janitors,” Hay said.

Hay and Clements hope their findings will encourage communities to limit harvesting and begin to repopulate sea cucumber species.

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The US Navy confirms that the British-owned bulk carrier M/V Rubymar has sunk. It was struck by a Houthi missile two weeks ago and the published this picture below is showing the vessel sunk on a sandbank in the Red Sea. It went down with 21,000 metric tons of fertilizer.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed late Saturday that the vessel “sank in the Red Sea after being struck” by an anti-ship ballistic missile last month.

“The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “As the ship sinks it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway,” it added.

The Yemen-based terror group, known as the Houthis, were holding an oil tank, the FSO Safer, hostage until this past summer when international organizations finally negotiated a rescue deal.

Greenpeace Middle East North Africa (MENA) which works independently from Greenpeace, or Greenpeace International have not condemned the Houthis and their persistent attacks against cargo ships and oil tankers in the Red Sea since the October 7, terror attack by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Green Prophet reached out to Greenpeace MENA in late December, and several times thereafter, and there has been no response to the attacks on naval traffic heading to the Suez Canal. A statement came out only after the ship had sunk. Greenpeace MENA released a statement yesterday they were “concerned”.

Lebanon-based Julien Jreissati, Programme Director at Greenpeace MENA said: “This disruption could have far-reaching consequences, affecting various species that depend on these ecosystems and, in turn, potentially impacting the very livelihoods of coastal communities. Immediate access to the shipwreck site is imperative for an expert response team to assess the situation and swiftly devise and implement an emergency plan.”

The coral reefs in the Red Sea are the most northerly reef on the planet. Thousands of divers go to Sinai, Egypt every year on dive trips to sites like Abu Galum and the Blue Hole, near Dahab. Saudi Arabia is building its future tourism industry on Red Sea coastal resorts and towns like The Line. The Houthis have been firing at Saudi Arabia indiscriminately for the last several years while a majority of ordinary Yemenites starve.

Post-revolution sites like Dahab have since recovered since the 2011 uprisings in Cairo. The ongoing Hamas-Israel war presents an uncertain future for future Red Sea tourism, certainly at beach camps in Sinai which have little security and where terror operatives can find refuge.

“Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain’s bill,” Hussein al-Ezzi, a head terror operative said said in a post on X. “It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”

Greenpeace Israel had no comment.

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Corals don’t do well in shipping lanes. They don’t do well when people step on them or when they are met with oil spills. Coral reefs the world over are threatened and now an international team is looking to deep dive into the research that could impact laws around them. As countries like Saudi Arabia ramp up tourism in the Red Sea with Neom and The Line, and Vision 2030, and as the Houthis threaten to blow up oil tankers, the world wants to know: how do stressors like light and noise impact the reefs?

Prof. Oren Levy, Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Marine Ecology at Bar-Ilan University, is a member of a newly-launched EU project to improve our comprehension of how biodiversity is being impacted by Light and Noise Pollution (LNP) in aquatic environments such as rivers, lakes, coastal and offshore waters.

Funded by the Horizon Europe program, AquaPLAN (Aquatic Pollution from Light and Anthropogenic Noise: Management of Impacts on Biodiversity) aims to quantify the combined impacts of LNP on aquatic biodiversity in European waters and facilitate the implementation of empirically sound strategies for managing these pollutants through novel interdisciplinary approaches.

Prof. Levy’s contribution to the project focuses on the unique environment of tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, where he examines the impact of light pollution on vital ecological aspects. His research targets the synchronization of coral spawning, a critical event for reef regeneration, which can be disrupted by artificial lighting. Additionally, he studies how light pollution affects the behavior of tropical fish and the colonization patterns of invertebrates in light-polluted areas, providing insights into the broader ecological impact.

Alongside colleagues from the consortium, Levy also extends his research to include the effects of noise pollution on these marine ecosystems, exploring how both light and noise pollution jointly influence coral reefs, fish behavior, and invertebrate colonization.

Understanding how LNP affects aquatic biodiversity has dramatically improved in recent decades. Evidence suggests that these effects are prevalent globally, in all types of aquatic ecosystems, from rivers and lakes to the seafloor. Despite growing knowledge and access to a range of technologies, best practice methodologies and policy interventions, there are still many critical knowledge gaps that, if addressed, would allow us to better manage and reduce these impacts.

Project coordinator Prof. Elena Maggi from University of Pisa said, “Currently, existing regulations on the emission of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) and anthropogenic noise are highly fragmented in inland, coastal and offshore waters. Moreover, we still need good datasets to understand how to monitor, protect and restore aquatic biodiversity effectively.”

AquaPLAN will run for four years. It is coordinated by the University of Pisa (UNIPI) and comprises a multi-actor, transdisciplinary team of 13 organizations from nine countries. The consortium recently gathered in Pisa, Italy for the project’s kickoff meeting.

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Jump into a lake or sea covered in Neutrogena or Coppertone sunscreen and you feel a film of sunscreen wash into your eyes. That same sunscreen that’s meant to protect you is very damaging to lakes and ocean life, and especially life that’s sensitive to environmental disturbances. Of course you can make your own sunscreen – here’s our sunscreen DIY recipe here  – and while this might be less harmful to your body the elements may still harm sea life. But a company from Israel says that they have created a sunscreen that protects you from the sun and the reefs from harm. It’s called Reef Relief. 

The sunscreen was formulated in the Red Sea city of Eilat, home to dying coral reefs. The company announces developing the world’s first sunscreen that is scientifically formulated not only to protect the skin from UV rays but to feed and nourish endangered coral reefs. 

Eilat is home to the world’s most northernmost shallow-water reef and locals are passionate about protecting it and other coral reefs.

Coral is facing serious threats from climate change, pollution, and other human activities, with an estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen ending up in the world’s oceans every year. As many as 80% of ordinary sunscreens contain chemicals that contribute to coral bleaching and dying reefs.

While some manufacturers have begun to remove harmful chemicals like oxybenzone, Reef Relief goes further than any other sunscreen on the planet to protect coral reefs and help them thrive, the company says.

Marine and skincare specialists have developed a new formulation based on a non-nano, titanium-dioxide-based, mineral sunscreen. The base formula is Ecocert compliant and has undergone extensive aquatic safety testing, to include safety for freshwater fish, saltwater fish and coral larvae. The added reef nourishing formula is a bespoke blend of FDA-compliant trace minerals used by coral farmers to feed and support healthy growth in coral.

Giovanni Giallongo, a marine biologist from Ben Gurion University of the Negev said, “The development of a sunscreen that not only doesn’t harm coral, but has the potential to feed and nourish our reefs, is an important step towards protecting and preserving our oceans.

“Reef Relief could feed into the health of communities underwater and on land.”

Reef Relief sunscreen also presents to the world another first, a brand-new certification – not just against SPF, but also now RPF for Reef Protection Factor.

An increasing number of products claim to be ‘reef-friendly’ or ‘reef-safe’, but there is a lack of regulation in this area which means that consumers are easily being misled. It’s hoped that the new RPF marque will become an industry standard and spread beyond Israel, worldwide, helping consumers make responsible choices.

Giallongo added, “This is a way of identifying sunscreen that truly cares for coral. An RPF marque as an industry standard.”

How can you know if your sunscreen is reef safe?

Unfortunately the term “reef friendly” is not regulated, so you can’t always trust products with this description. It’s important to actually check the active ingredients label on the back of your sunscreen or personal care product to ensure that reef-harming chemicals are not included, says Save the Reef, an NGO set up to educate us about saving coral reefs. The size of minerals used in the sunscreen can also have an impact.

They say, be sure to use micro-sized (or non-nano) mineral sunscreens to avoid nanoparticles, as these smaller particles can be toxic in high concentrations. It’s also advised to stick with lotions and avoid spray or misting sunscreens, especially those that contain titanium dioxide as it can be harmful to your health if inhaled.

It’s always good to use products that cut back on single use plastic packaging, either by using containers that are reusable, have high recycled content or are made out of biodegradable plant-based materials like cardboard.

Make sure your sunscreen does not contain the following harmful substances:

• Oxybenzone
• Octinoxate
• Octocrylene
• Homosalate
• 4-methylbenzylidene camphor
• PABA
• Parabens
• Triclosan
• Any nanoparticles or “nano-sized” zinc or titanium (if it doesn’t explicitly say “micro-sized” or “non-nano” and it can rub in, it’s probably nano-sized)
• Any form of microplastic, such as “exfoliating beads”

::Reef Relief

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Just like your circadian rhythm needs an LED light-free night for a good sleep, animals around the globe – whether they are nocturnal or diurnal – need a predictable amount of light and dark to develop, reproduce and thrive. When it’s night it should be dark, or with the moon, and when it’s day there should be light. But as urban spaces develop near coral reefs, the pollution from motorboats, freight shipping, pollutants, and now light, put the survival of coral reefs everywhere at risk. 

The problem of light pollution and animals was addressed in a Green Prophet article about why you should turn your garden lights out at night. And when it comes to marine health and animals that live in the sea, their needs are about the same. Some 250 scientists have recently signed a protest against lighting up beaches near the coral reefs at night. Israel’s most southern city of Eilat is attempting to light up the night around its Red Sea shores and scientists worried about the already devastated reef fear it will not come back to life. 

At the Great Barrier Reef for instance, major spawning events are triggered by light. What if the light trigger never comes? Would the mass spawning event ever take place?

The Tourism Ministry of Israel, reports Haaretz, is moving forward with plans for a new boardwalk for the beaches in the north of the city, including Coral Beach and Zin Beach.

The lighting plan includes light fixtures along the entire length of the boardwalk. But Eilat’s coral reef, which is right off the shore, is one of the world’s most northern coral reefs and its location as such gives it exceptional resistance to climate change.

Because of this scientists believe that it will become a haven for biodiversity when climate change wipes out reefs in more southerly locations.

Biodiversity and beautiful reefs also attract tourists, and since Eilat has a public relations problem with its brash character, and lack of charm (ugly and loud hotels, poor customer service, obnoxious nightlife) tourists tend to bypass it and head to Sinai, Egypt which offers simple, affordable access to natural beaches. I wouldn’t go to Eilat if someone paid me. In short, Eilat needs all the help it can get. 

Reefs biology relies on the sun and the moon

The call to stop the lighting around reefs is not a new idea and it has scientific studies backing it. In 2020, Bar Ilan University in Israel reported in the journal Current Biology that the daily light-dark cycle arising from the earth’s rotation is centrally important to biology. Marine organisms, particularly coral reefs, rely on natural light cycles of sunlight and moonlight to regulate various physiological, biological and behavioral processes. 

The researchers found that light pollution prevented the syncing of gamete release, when reefs reproduce: “The daily light-dark cycle arising from the earth’s rotation is centrally important to biology. Marine organisms, particularly coral reefs, rely on natural light cycles of sunlight and moonlight to regulate various physiological, biological and behavioral processes,” they wrote. 

“Both key coral species were affected by ecological light pollution. They exhibited asynchrony in the reproductive state which was reflected in the number of oocytes per polyp, gametogenesis, and gamete maturation,” says the study’s lead author Prof. Oren Levy at Bar-Ilan University.

“This was further reflected at the population level where only corals exposed to natural light cycles succeeded in spawning synchronization. Light treatment with both cold and warm LED’s had a similar impact on the gametogenesis cycle,” added Levy.

To shed light on how relevant their findings are on a worldwide scale, the researchers created a first-of-its-kind global map that highlights areas most threatened by artificial light at night (ALAN) including the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific and Indian Oceans. One striking example is the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat in the northern Red Sea, where considerable urban lighting is present close to shore. There the least affected area is 47% brighter than a natural night sky, and this rises to a maximum of 60 times brighter.

With the global transition towards LED lighting, which tends to have higher emissions in the blue spectrum, more near shore coral reefs could be affected by artificial light, as blue light penetrates deeper into the water. This spectral shift is expected to be amplified by the current rapid population growth in coastal regions.

Levy and team’s results demonstrate that artificial light must be considered in conservation plans for coral reefs near areas of human activity and their light pollution impact assessment can help incorporate an important variable in coral reef conservation planning. If blue LED lights shorten the life span of flies (in this Nature study) what are they doing to reefs, to us?

The Emperor’s new clothes 

Israel is not alone in managing the Red Sea. There is Aqaba, adjacent to Eilat in the east and Saudi Arabia below Jordan. Jorda, as one of the world’s poorest countries, doesn’t have a current problem with excessive over-development so it should take its cues from Israel who are managing similar environmental problems.

Saudi Arabia is different because typically few people visit or inhabit its beaches. But the prince of Saudi Arabia wants to change that with a bombastic plan to build cities and islands in the Red Sea area. He wants the west to do in Saudi Arabia what he won’t let women in Saudi Arabia do: frolic freely on beaches, drink and have a good time. This is all done with counsel by so-called eco advisors from Europe who talk sweetly about renewable energy and water management while no one mentions the drastic state of the world’s environment and the prince’s grand vision. 

As Saudi Arabia builds out its mega and so-called eco city of Neom on the Red Sea we are wondering if their European advisors are reading and listening? Or are they too devoted to Saudi’s endless money to bother about reef health as they build out “eco” islands and cities on the fragile Red Sea coast. 

Read about some other ways of rejuvenating coral reefs:
Underwater Art Heals Coral Reefs
EcoReef Antlers to Heal the Sea

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