Coral reefs are under attack. Human-made marine traffic, pollution and global warming is to blame. Some divers are playing their part by replanting kelp forests. Scientists have also found new ways to revive dying or dead coral reefs and this new study shows how:

The study introduces a method known as “a coral reef ecosystem transplant” (aCRET), where researchers transferred biomimetic terracotta (clay)  tiles embedded with a diverse community of organisms—including invertebrates and beneficial microorganisms—from a healthy reef to a nearby damaged reef.

Related: Econcrete brings coastal ecosystems to life

The corals from the damaged reef were then attached to these tiles. The results demonstrated notable improvements in coral health, including increased photosynthetic efficiency, higher populations of symbiotic algae, and reduced stress levels. These findings suggest that transplanting a healthy ecosystem can significantly boost coral resilience and physiological function.

The researchers designed the biomimetic terracotta tiles to replicate the complex 3D structure of natural coral reefs, providing a perfect environment for diverse organisms to thrive. After allowing the organisms to grow on the tiles for six months, the tiles—along with their rich, biologically active substrate—were transported to the damaged reef located six km away.

Following an additional six months, corals on these tiles showed substantial improvements compared to corals grown on tiles with substrate from the damaged reef. In a parallel experiment, the researchers confirmed that the transfer of substrate from a damaged reef to a healthy reef produced less favorable results, reinforcing the benefits of the healthy reef ecosystem transplant.

The study, just published in the journal Nature Communications, was led by Natalie Levy and Prof. Oren Levy from Bar-Ilan University in collaboration with Prof. Ezri Tarazi of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Prof. David Bourne of James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

“This innovative approach underscores the critical role of healthy reef ecosystems in restoring coral health and resilience,” said Dr. Natalie Levy, lead researcher of the study. “The results highlight the potential of ecosystem transplantation as an effective, sustainable restoration tool that can be integrated with other coral restoration methods like coral gardening and artificial reefs.”

The study’s findings point to aCRETs as a viable and flexible solution for coral reef restoration globally, especially in areas facing significant environmental stress. This cost-effective technique could complement and enhance existing restoration strategies, helping to protect and restore coral ecosystems vital for marine biodiversity. However, the researchers stress that for the best outcomes, local reefs should be selected as close as possible for transplanting, and additional long-term studies are essential to fully understand the ecological impacts on different coral species and reef environments.

“This research advances our understanding of coral restoration and provides an invaluable tool to help address the ongoing global coral crisis,” said Prof. Oren Levy. “By using healthy ecosystems to regenerate damaged reefs, we can work towards more resilient, sustainable coral ecosystems that may one day recover from climate change and other threats.”

This pioneering study paves the way for a new wave of coral conservation efforts and offers hope for reversing the alarming degradation of coral reefs worldwide.

Love this? Follow our coral reef research here.

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Coral reef hunters find 10 human pharmaceuticals in the Red Sea

Coral reefs are being bathed in common household pharmaceuticals from blood pressure medication to laxatives antidepressants: A new study from Tel Aviv University at the Red Sea detected traces of 10 common medications in coral samples collected from both shallow and deep sites in the Gulf of Eilat.

Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used for respiratory and urinary tract infections, was found in as many as 93% of the sampled corals.

The researchers obtained a list of the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in Israel from their health services. Testing for 18 of these compounds, they detected 10 of them in the coral samples. Not even a single sample, retrieved from either shallow or deep water, was found to be drug-free.

The 10 pharmaceuticals found in the corals belonged to different categories: antibiotics, blood pressure medications, antiplatelet agents, calcium channel blockers, laxatives, proton pump inhibitors, statins, and antidepressants.

The alarming study was led by Prof. Noa Shenkar and her PhD student Gal Navon, in collaboration with the Hydrochemistry laboratory led by Prof. Dror Avisar. The results were published in the prestigious journal Environmental Pollution.

“In this first-of-its-kind study, we conducted a large-scale investigation for detection of pharmaceuticals in corals,” says Prof. Shenkar. “We sampled 96 reef-building stony corals representing two types, Acropora sp. and Favites sp., in shallow sites (5-12 meters) as well as deeper sites beyond the limits of recreational diving (30-40 meters).

“We were surprised to find an extensive presence of medications even in the deep-water corals – which usually escape contaminations affecting corals in shallower areas.”

“What does the presence of pharmaceuticals in corals actually mean? Clearly, the corals did not receive a prescription for antibiotics from their doctor,” explains Prof. Shenkar. “These medications are taken by humans to affect a certain receptor or biological pathway, and they can also impact other organisms.

“Previous studies, conducted by both our lab and others, have revealed many examples of this negative impact: estrogen from birth control contraceptive pills induces female features in male fish, impairing reproduction in certain species; Prozac makes some crabs aggressive and reckless; and antidepressants damage the memory and learning abilities of squids.

“There is no reason to believe that corals should be immune to such effects. For instance, if our pharmaceuticals should disrupt the spawning synchrony of coral populations, it would take us a long time to notice the problem, and when we do, it might be too late.”

“Stony corals build coral reefs, and the types we studied are very common in the Gulf of Eilat,” adds Gal Navon. “Coral reefs are a cornerstone of marine biodiversity. They provide food, shelter, and spawning sites to numerous species, and support the human fishing and tourism industries. Today this delicate ecosystem is under pressure as a result of climate change, pollution, and overfishing. The presence of pharmaceuticals in coral tissues adds another layer of concern, indicating that human activities even contaminate faraway marine environments.”

“Clearly these medications save lives, and we have no intention of requesting people to reduce their use,” says Prof. Shenkar. “However, we must develop new sewage treatment methods that can effectively handle pharmaceutical compounds. Also, each of us must dispose of old medications in ways that do not harm the environment. Ultimately these drugs come back to us. I know people who avoid medications, but when they eat a fish, they might unknowingly consume a ‘cocktail’ of drug residues absorbed by the fish from the marine environment.”

Houthi attacks on Red Sea vessels make the Red Sea more vulnerable than it ever was.

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We know the giant clam from the Disney film Moana. He collects diamonds and pearls. But in a new real life discovery, scientists working at the Red Sea have found sea sponges use glittery metal to ward off predation.

The study found that sponges in the Gulf of Eilat on the Red Sea have developed an original way to keep predators away. The researchers found that the sponges contain an unprecedented concentration of the highly toxic mineral molybdenum (Mo). In addition, they identified the bacterium that enables sponges to store such high concentrations of this precious metal and unraveled the symbiosis between the two organisms.

The study was led by PhD student Shani Shoham and Prof. Micha Ilan from TAU’s School of Zoology. The paper was published in the leading journal Science Advances.

The researchers explain that sponges are the earliest multicellular organisms known to science. They live in marine environments and play an important role in the earth’s carbon, nitrogen, and silicon cycles. A sponge can process and filter seawater 50,000 times its body weight every day.

With such enormous quantities of water flowing through them, they can accumulate various trace elements – and scientists try to understand how they cope with toxic amounts of materials like arsenic and molybdenum.

Twenty to 30 years ago, researchers from a lab collected samples of a rare sponge called Theonella conica from the coral reef of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean and found in them a high concentration of molybdenum. Molybdenum is a trace element, important for metabolism in the cells of all animals including humans, and widely used in industry.

“In my research, I wanted to test whether such high concentrations are also found in this sponge species in the Gulf of Eilat, where it grows at depths of more than 27 meters,” says PhD student Shani Shoham: “Finding the sponge and analyzing its composition I discovered that it contained more molybdenum than any other organism on earth: 46,793 micrograms per gram of dry weight.”

She notes: “Like all trace elements, molybdenum is toxic when its concentration is higher than its solubility in water. But we must remember that a sponge is essentially a hollow mass of cells with no organs or tissues. Specifically in Theonella conica, up to 40% of the body volume is a microbial society – bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in symbiosis with the sponge.

One of the most dominant bacteria, called Entotheonella sp., serves as a ‘detoxifying organ’ for accumulating metals inside the body of its sponge hosts. Hoarding more and more molybdenum, the bacteria convert it from its toxic soluble state into a mineral. We are not sure why they do this. Perhaps the molybdenum protects the sponge, by announcing: “I’m toxic! Don’t eat me!”, and in return for this service the sponge does not eat the bacteria and serves as their host.”

No sponge farming for rare metals

Molybdenum is in high demand, mostly for alloys (for example, to make high-strength steel), but according to Shoham, it would be impracticable to retrieve it from sponges: “The concentration is very high, but when translated into weight we could only get a few grams from every sponge, and the sponge itself is relatively rare.

“Sponges are grown in marine agriculture, mostly for the pharmaceutical industry, but this is quite a challenging endeavor. Sponges are very delicate creatures that need specific conditions.

“On the other hand, future research should focus on the ability of Entotheonella sp. bacteria to accumulate toxic metals. A few years ago, our lab discovered huge concentrations of other toxic metals, arsenic (As) and barium (Ba), in a close relative of Theonella conica, called Theonella swinhoei, which is common in the Gulf of Eilat.

“In this case, too, Entotheonella was found to be largely responsible for hoarding the metals and turning them into minerals, thereby neutralizing their toxicity. Continued research on the bacteria can prove useful for treating water sources polluted with arsenic, a serious hazard which directly affects the health of 200 million people worldwide.”

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A new study has used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to prove for the first time that ship noise affects dolphins.

Maritime traffic has a very strong impact on the environment and public health in general and on the marine environment in particular, and is a factor that motivates the migration of species from one marine environment to another. Until now, it was not known whether dolphins were affected by ship noise; the evidence in this regard was mainly anecdotal and visual. The main difficulty is to systematically determine the behavior of dolphins encountering ship noise.

“Although it seems obvious, until now there was no empirical evidence that dolphins are affected by ship noise. Using AI, we were able to show that dolphins communicate in a unique way when ship noise is nearby. The influence of ship noise on communication between dolphins can cause them to move away from noise sources, which in some cases are their feeding grounds,” explains Prof. Roee Diamant and Dr. Aviad Scheinin, two of the authors of the study.

Read Also: How people and dolphins fish together

The current study, supported by the Data Science center at the University of Haifa, was conducted in collaboration between the Underwater Acoustic and Navigation Laboratory (ANL), headed by Prof. Diamant, and the Marine Apex predator laboratory, headed by Dr. Scheinin. The researchers combined acoustic studies of dolphin whistles (the form of communication used by the mammals) with AI software that searched for patterns in the cries.

As mentioned earlier, one of the main problems with studies of this type is observing the dolphins’ behavior, firstly when there is no ship noise and secondly when there is. This is the only way to determine whether the same dolphin behaves differently in each case.

For this purpose, the researchers chose a location close to the dolphin reef in Eilat, where Common bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) dolphins are regularly found. Recording devices placed at a depth of 50 meters continuously recorded the sounds of nearby dolphins and shipping noise.

Read Also: Greenpeace is not condemning violent missiles and attacks in the Red Sea

From all the recorded sounds, the researchers filtered out 12,000 dolphin whistles and were able to assign them to the dolphins that were at that location. The algorithm developed by the researchers identified around 60,000 dolphin whistles when a ship was nearby, and the same number of whistles where identified when no ships were present.

According to Prof. Diamant, not visual inspection of the signals nor direct feature extraction were able to distinguish between the two groups of whistles – with and without presence of a ship. Instead, this was analyzed by a deep learning algorithm.

This algorithm was trained over 20% of the whistle database and tested on the remaining whistles. The result was a 90% success rate in classifying between the two sets. In other words, the AI was able to recognize a certain pattern in the whistles of the dolphins exposed to shipping noise, well above the chance level. The researchers concluded from this result that a clear impact on the dolphins occurs when vessels were around.

“The problem with deep learning is that it’s a kind of a ‘black box’ and it’s hard to associate the classification result to a physical meaning within the signal. We still don’t know what unique pattern the AI system has recognized, but we know that it is related to the type of communication they make, and previous studies have already shown that changes in vocal behavior can be the result of stress and distress. In other words, dolphins communicate in a different way and change their vocal behavior when they encounter ship noise. In our upcoming studies, we will try to understand the nature of the effects,” the researchers conclude.

The research was conducted at the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa was published in the Nature Group journal Scientific Reports

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On the road to Mecca in Saudi Arabia four hundred years ago, one could stop at a professional sorcerer: it seems that Muslim pilgrims walking from Cairo in Egypt to Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula would make a stop at these professional sorcerers. Dinns are a real thing in Islam, so beware if you cross one when out on a pilgrimage or if one enters your home. This guide may help you get the dinns out.

You know about the Evil Eye and hamsa, hamsa, hamsa for keeping it away? It’s an old practice in the Middle East. Finding some sources to superstitions are the strange magical tools found along pilgrim routes and described by Israeli researchers in the Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World. The researchers found stones and sculptures, some broken, and guess these objects were used in magical rituals carried out in order to ward off the evil eye, to heal diseases and more.

According to the researchers, “This discovery reveals that people in the Early Ottoman Period—just as today—consulted popular sorcerers, alongside the formal belief in the official religion.”

Itamar Taxel of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Uzi Avner of the Dead Sea-Arava Science Center, and Nitzan Amitai-Preiss of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were involved in the study that looked at the objects found in the Eilat region in the 1990s.

The group of objects is associated with rituals or ceremonies and comprises predominantly dozens of fragments of clay globular rattles, mostly similar to table tennis balls, containing small stones, that sound when the rattle was shaken. There were 2 miniature votive incense altars found, a small figurine of a naked woman or a goddess with raised hands, a characteristic feature of deities or priests; a few other figurines, and crystal pebbles.

The examination of the clay used for the ceramic objects has shown that they came from Egypt.

This is the first time that such a large assemblage of ritual objects of this kind has been found, and it is even more unique at a temporary site and not a permanent settlement.

The magical objects were found next to the Pilgrimage Road (Darb al-Hajj, in Arabic) that led from Cairo, crossed the Sinai Peninsula, and continued in the region of Eilat to the town of Aqaba, and then crossed the Arabian Peninsula on the way to Hajj in Mecca and Medina. This route was in use from the first centuries after the rise of Islam, from the 7th century to the 19th century.

“The spot of these artifacts next to the camping site, and the comparison of the artifacts to those known in the Muslim world, as well as the fact that these artifacts were found together as a group, lead to the understanding that they were used in magical rituals,” the researchers announce, adding:

“The artifacts were found broken, and they may even have been purposely broken in the ceremonies. It seems that these rituals were carried out at the site by one or several people who specialized in popular magical ceremonies. From the literary sources, we know that there was a demand for magical rituals among people from different strands of society. Such rituals were carried out daily alongside the formal religious rituals—including in the Muslim world—and it is probable that the pilgrims making their way to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina were no exception,” they add.

The Darb el-Haj road will be part of tourism and educational activities in Israel showing how cultures past lived their lives in the Holy Land.

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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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The International Birding & Research Center in Eilat built a community campaign to protect migrating birds from Africa to Europe. It was declared to be one of the most globally most important projects of conservation of bio-diversity by COP15, the Conference of the Parties (UN) on biodiversity. You know COP26 – that’s for the Climate. COP15, you could say, is for the birds. This year the group met in China.

The conference committee examined hundreds of projects and chose 100 “Global Outstanding Practices” among them.  From these, the organizers chose the Eilat bird conservation project as one of the 19 most “outstanding” projects. The bird center has found a way to engage the public to protect a delicate land bridge that gives rest and refuge to migrating birds travelling from Africa to Europe and back again twice a year. 

The group stopped wind turbines, decreased glass use in buildings, created watering holes and even make sure that “snacks” are available for the birds when they pass through the southern tip of Israel. 

Birds aren’t loved in the Middle East and migrating birds face many challenges in areas like Jordan where the birds are shot for sport or killed because of superstitions. 

“Our way to safeguard our skies and stopover sites as hazardless and nutritious for the migratory birds, pass through recruiting our communities and decision makers,” says Noam Weiss, the director of the International Birding & Research Center.

Eilat and Southern Arava are located on the only land-bridge, connecting Eurasia and Africa and on the edge of the vast and hostile Sahara Desert. The region is a critical migration bottle-necks in the world, one that millions of birds use.

The conservation of the flyway involves keeping skies clear of hazards such as wind turbines, cable held antennas, problematic power lines and even window covered buildings, that birds collide into.

Furthermore, the birds that used to enjoy thriving natural habitats such as the Eilat Saltmarsh, that is now practically extinct, are pushed to manufactured habitats – gardens, fields, orchards, Sewage treatment works and saltpans.

“To improve these man-made stopover sites for the birds, we need public support and participation and creative collaborations,”explains Noam. “To convince a farmer that birds can do pest control just as good or even better than pesticides, and therefore birds should feel safe and invited to the farms, or to collaborate with the local water company.

“The wide window of our research station, where bird banding to examine the physical condition of the migrants and their ability to complete their epic journey takes place, faces the tens of thousands of visitors who come here every year and watch research being done, ask questions and even get to hold a tiny bird and release it to its challenging way,” he adds. 

“It’s a life changing experience” says Iris Gorin of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, who runs the ringing station. “a kid or adult holding a warm and energetic bird and letting it go back to its migration challenges, wish from all their hearts that it will make it safely home. They are recruited to love and conserve birds, in their gardens or at work, now and forever”. 

The success to recruit the community to the goals for the birding center translated instantly to achievements in conservation campaigns. Four wind farms located on the main flyway and stopover sites were stopped by the bird sanctuary’s volunteers and their communities.

The treated water reservoir is now undergoing a tremendous change for the sake of the birds, by the enthusiastic team of “En netafim” and the “Salt of the Earth” invested in the bio-diversity of its saltpans, now called the “Flamingo pools” by all.

Antennas lost their planned cables, regularization of building’s fronts (max. 50% glass) , all made for the safety of the birds, by good intentions and people.

::Eilat Birds

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The Red Sea is in danger of environmental degradation. Saudi Arabia is building its so called eco city Neom on the Red Sea, tourism in Sinai is ruining reefs and an oil and gas pipeline using cargo ships is planned from Saudi Arabia up through Israel. Catastrophes can strike at any moment. Even now an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen seized by rebels can blow up spilling more oil than the Exxon Valdez into the Red Sea.

Who is going to help? The Red Sea Reef Foundation (RSRF) has awarded research grants to five scientists from Israel and Jordan who are studying corals in one of the world’s largest marine refuges from climate change. Each selected project involves an innovative approach, such as using deep neural networks to derive data on coral reef fish populations, characterizing corals’ changing microbiome, and developing coral bioindicators of heavy metal pollution in seawater and of coral resilience to stress from rising ocean temperatures.

Four of the selected projects could be applied to monitor the health of reefs in new ways, while a fifth aims to refine techniques for farming corals both in the Red Sea and beyond. This type of work is key to conservation of coral reef ecosystems. With 90% of the world’s coral reefs expected to be severely degraded by mid-century due to warming ocean temperatures, the study and conservation of the thermally resilient reefs in the northern Red Sea are a global imperative. These reefs may be among the last to survive our century, as they can thrive even if their environment warms by several degrees centigrade.

Karine Kleinhaus, President and Founder of the Red Sea Reef Foundation commented “Each awardee is a graduate or post-graduate student doing innovative science. Graduate students with new ideas need support to move their research, and the field, forward. It is exciting to support local scientific capacity in the Red Sea region, as this is critical to advancing successful conservation of the Red Sea’s 4000km of unique reefs.”

The awardees are: Husam Al-Qudah, Yarmouk University, Jordan; Victor China, Ben Gurion University, Israel; Hala Ghazi, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan; Naama-Rose Kochman, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; Natalie Levy, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

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If Noah would have had the challenge, this is what his living ark might look like to save the coral reefs.

The thought is frightening that we need “live arks” and seed banks to secure species’ and our survival for the future. In 2008 with the starting effects of global climate change the Svalbard Global seed bank was established to ensure future generations that seeds and seed diversity would be available when and if needed. The bank, built into permafrost, now contains seeds from far and wide — even from Syria where locals feared seed diversity might die out during their civil war. 

Now the same is true for wild grains being threatened by our regular daily bread and most urgently coral reef bleaching and die-out has caused science to invest in a coral reef biobank in Australia. An estimated 50% of the world’s coral reefs have died out and we are expected to lose up to 90% if interventions are not taken.

A nonprofit organization called the Great Barrier Reef Legacy has revealed design plans for the Living Coral Biobank, to conserve a coral ark of 800 at risk coral scleractinia or hard corals species.  The species will be from around the world and the center will also offer a landmark to another otherwise unheard of town called Port Douglas, a small coastal community in far northern Queensland, Australia famous for its coral reef research.

A Sydney-based practice Contreras Earl Architecture designed the building along with London-based Arup. They plan for the building to become a world leader in next-generation sustainable design, creating optimal conditions for coral storage while minimising energy consumption. Solar power and special insulation are some of the green features of the building. 

“To ensure this priceless living collection is held in perpetuity for generations to come, we need the world’s most advanced facility that also promises to use only renewable energy sources and function with optimum efficiency, while also creating an unforgettable visitor experience—and that’s exactly what this design delivers,” said Dr. Dean Miller, project director of the Living Coral Biobank and managing director of Great Barrier Reef Legacy, in a statement shared by Arup in a press release.

The aim is to have the building up and running by 2025 but the group will need to secure funding from an Elon Musk or Richard Branson in order to complete the vision.  

Coral reef and marine researcher expert Beverly Goodman from Canada and Israel isn’t thrilled at the prospect of a Noah’s Coral Ark. Goodman works in the Mediterranean and Red Sea mainly and thinks putting focus on a biobank or showcase distracts from the work needed in coral reef conservation.

She drives home the message that conservation is key, telling Green Prophet: “The basic answer is yes: just like seed banks, having archives of species is important. Whether it is a ‘solution’ to anything is certainly a deeper question and issue. Some fear that such efforts will make conservation efforts seem less important and divert focus,” she explains.

So what can we do today to save the coral reefs? “It sounds like a dodgy answer,” Goodman says, “but ‘everything’. This effort is really important, and will be successful if it is not needed. Marine sanctuaries and protections are probably one of the greatest directly impactful ways to slow the bleed. Education is everyone’s favourite, but in truth good policy and enforcement must exist for education to be impactful.

“It will be successful if it is not needed – is sort of like the issue of good Covid-prevention. If done right, then it will seem like a big waste in the end. I mean no species genetic bank will have to be put into use later.”

Coral reefs in the Middle East

Coral reef die-out is witnessed in Middle East regions that border on seas and oceans. The Red Sea reefs in Eilat, Aqaba and Sinai are a shadow of what they once were, while Red Sea areas off the coast of Saudi Arabia, not popular for beach tourism because of strict conservative social codes, have led to a by-the-way protection of coral reefs.

Saudi Arabian reefs include the Tiran Islands, the Al Wajh Bank, the reefs north of Yanbu, between Obhur and Thuwal north of Jeddah, and the outer Farasan Bank. This could change after the Saudi vision comes to light, along with the creation of the mega eco-disaster city Neom billed as a city of the future.

If conversation is the key to saving the reefs then conservation laws must be put into effect and practiced. It’s highly unlikely to get fined for stepping on or damaging a coral reef in the Red Sea, and if global warming is to blame, companies that are big polluters must face rapid changes and understand that business is no longer as usual. Greta sounded the alarm loudly, now what?

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Environmentalists fear the worst for the already devastated coral reef and marine life in the area of the Red Sea shore. Prof. Amatzia Genin, from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat (I’ve had a great pleasure in visiting), told Haaretz: “It’s daylight robbery. It’s currently a beach that’s open to the public and they’ll turn it into a closed space. Ecologically speaking, it’s the destruction of the reef. Plain and simple.”

The city of Eilat has been known for accepting surreal tourism projects, and this is just the latest we hope will just die out as a dream. Think about the following: the Kings City biblical theme park is closed, an underwater restaurant was built and then sank, the IMAX cinema is now closed.

Really the only things worth doing in Eilat today are nature-related or anthropological: watch the worst of Israel conglomerate, eat and scream on the beach (yeah, I’ve been part of the milieu), around pools or on the boardwalk; or get out of the city for a nature tour on a Jeep or by foot. I’ve hiked into Eilat with my dog. It was way too hot and dry. I’ve tried to sleep on the beach. Too noisy from the trance parties. I’ve rented hotels and have attempted family holidays there. The only thing good about Eilat is that it’s on the way to Sinai. There is one beach, part of the nature preserve, close to the Sinai border, worth visiting.

The pink, mauve and purple mountains around the region are worth exploring and knowing. But you need a guide and a 4X4.

The city, founded in 1951, was once freshly populated by Israeli criminals given an option: move to Eilat or stay in jail. Today Eilat offers a getaway for budget-minded tourists and local Israelis. It’s hard for me to stay in Eilat without feeling depressed. The hotels along the strip are loud, dirty and rude, with no trace of professionalism; anything that could be good about it gets suffocated by the noisy people, never-ending breakfast and dinner buffets where every dish looks different but tastes the same; the endless stands of trinkets and stuff that you should never buy. Clearly I am not a fan of Eilat. The best the city could do is encourage hiking trails for early morning and late afternoon adventurers, and work harder to protect visitors from noise and people pollution. Of course it should not build an underwater hotel.

And to be positive, of course there were strong and important politically-minded motives for having a population of people down at the point of Israel where Jordan meets Saudi Arabia, meets Egypt. And of course if you add up all those reasons why Israel needs to protect itself from below, Eilat has all the reasons in the world as to why it should exist.

But to make it attractive, and forward-thinking and to feed its 80 percent of the economy that depends on tourism, Eilat needs a game plan, not a maniacal plan to ruin little of what’s left of its environmental treasures and public access to those treasures. I’d visit Eilat if it felt like Cannes. Even if it felt more cosmopolitan like Tel Aviv. Come on people of Israel. Come on Daniel Libeskind. You can do better.

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