A dead shark that washed ashore this week at Beit Yanai beach in Israel has renewed concerns about the health of Israel’s marine ecosystems — and the growing risks humans face as climate and coastal pressures intensify.

Beachgoers reported the shark early in the morning, one of several unusual strandings seen along Israel’s coast this year. Marine biologists are investigating the cause of death, but early theories point to two escalating stressors: over-fishing, warming waters and desalination impacts.

Israel’s coastal waters are warming faster than the global average, drawing larger predators like sharks closer to shore in search of cooler currents and shifting prey. Earlier this year a man was fatally attacked by a shark while diving off the coast — a rare but stark reminder that marine behavior is changing.

At the same time, scientists warn that intensive desalination, now underpinning Israel’s national water supply, is subtly reshaping coastal ecosystems. While water is being pumped to replenish a shrinking Sea of Galilee, desalinated water is energy intense.

Brine discharge alters salinity and temperature gradients, influencing fish distribution and potentially disorienting species highly sensitive to environmental change, including sharks and sea turtles.

This is part of a wider pattern of marine disruption in the region. A whale was recently found and dragged to Gaza, where desperate residents butchered and consumed it — a grim indicator of ecological collapse intersecting with humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, Israel’s sea turtles, already struggling against plastic pollution and beach development, face these shifting conditions on multiple fronts. This man is protecting sea turtles in the Mediterranean Sea. Find out how. 

The dead shark at Beit Yanai may be just one animal, but it reflects a system under stress. Israel’s Mediterranean coastline — once a relative refuge — is becoming hotter, more crowded, and more industrially burdened. Without serious regional cooperation on marine protection, more strandings, more unpredictability, and more human–wildlife conflict are likely on the horizon. And consider just up the sea, in Lebanon, people are fishing with dynamite. 

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Fifty years after the blockbuster film “Jaws” turned sharks into the world’s most feared underwater villains, celebrated endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh will seek to rewrite the narrative on sharks for a new generation.

From May 15–26, 2025, Pugh will swim the 60-mile (96 km) circumference of Martha’s Vineyard — the same waters that terrified millions — to raise awareness about the slaughter of sharks worldwide and its effect on ocean ecosystems.

A shark attack recently killed an Israeli in area where sharks were known to congregate. Feeding the sharks, which was warned against, is believed to be the cause of the tragic accident.

Although ocean swimming carries inherent risks, Pugh’s team will take precautions to reduce encounters with sharks.

“I’m frightened of sharks,” Pugh readily admits. “But I’m more terrified of a world without them, and that’s what we’re looking at if we don’t act now. Without sharks to keep them in balance, marine ecosystems are unraveling at frightening speed. We need a new narrative about these magnificent animals because the one we’ve been hearing for the past 50 years threatens our oceans.”

Since 1970, shark populations have plummeted by approximately 70% worldwide through overfishing and habitat destruction, the Lewis Pugh Foundation noted. Each year, an estimated 100 million sharks are killed — that’s 274,000 every single day — for their fins, meat, oil, and sport. The result isn’t just species loss; it’s ecological collapse, with devastating consequences for ocean health and global food security.

“Sharks are integral to ocean health, and ocean health is integral to human survival,” says Pugh. “This is not just about future generations. We must learn to respect and protect sharks today, and this will be my key message.”

Over the past few decades Great White Shark numbers have recovered around Martha’s Vineyard thanks to conservation efforts.  In addition, Pugh says, Massachusetts, to its credit, has recently taken efforts to protect white sharks from on-shore fishing. But this is not the case worldwide, where Great White Sharks are under increased threat.

As an endurance swimmer Pugh is unparalleled. He has pioneered swims in some of the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth to campaign for their protection. Most recently, in 2023, he swam the 315-mile (507km) Hudson River to praise its clean-up and highlight how rivers affect ocean health. The SHARK SWIM launches a three-year campaign by the Lewis Pugh Foundation to engage over one billion people with science, education, and acts of advocacy. It’s a central thrust of LPF’s 30×30 initiative: to fully protect 30% of our oceans by 2030.

“When we damage the environment, we create conditions that are ripe for conflict,” Pugh says. “But when we protect the environment, we foster peace. For centuries we have not only been fighting over the environment, we have been fighting against it. We must learn to make peace with nature for the sake of future generations.”

You can follow his swim here.

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A swimmer has gone missing following a rare shark attack off the coast of Hadera, Israel, Israeli police and emergency responders reported on Monday. The incident occurred near the mouth of the Hadera Stream, in a section of beach where swimming was officially prohibited. Israel is on the Mediterranean Sea.

Shark attacks are more common in the Red Sea in Sinai, and the beaches of Egypt. There was a shark attack there in the winter, killing one.

“There has never been a fatal shark attack in Israel on the Mediterranean coast,” says local J. Neufield. “Near Hadera there are certain warmer sections of water due to some of the nearby plants (as in electric and desalination) and sharks are attracted to those waters.

“The types of sharks are usually docile and for decades people have swim/snorkeled and dived there to see them. There have been sightings of them coming very close to shore in last few days. This is a very tragic and unusual event and we will have to wait to see official report for circumstances.”

Magen David Adom emergency services said a search operation was underway, involving rescue divers and maritime patrols. Authorities have since closed the beach to the public as a precaution.

Locals caught the attack on film and posted it on X.

Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that during the rescue operation, a diver was also bitten by the shark, escalating concerns about public safety in the area.

Though shark sightings near Hadera and Israel are not uncommon—particularly between November and May—attacks on humans are extremely rare. The region is known to attract dusky sharks (Carcharhinus obscurus) and sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus), both of which are large, coastal species. These sharks are typically not aggressive toward humans and are drawn to the warm outflows from the Hadera power station, seen in the background of the X video, and the abundance of food sources near the streams.

In recent days, large fish die-offs in the Hadera and nearby Alexander Streams have likely lured more sharks close to the shoreline. These predators play a crucial ecological role by consuming dead and dying fish, helping to keep coastal waters clean and in balance.

While the Mediterranean Sea is home to over 40 species of sharks, sightings along Israeli shores are relatively infrequent, and serious incidents like this one are exceedingly rare. Authorities are urging the public to avoid swimming in prohibited areas and to report any unusual marine activity. About 15 years ago we reported that shark attacks were up 25% worldwide.

A couple of years ago a seal washed up on shore in Jaffa.

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Diving in the crystal-clear waters of the Red Sea or exploring the vibrant reefs of Australia is an unforgettable experience. But sharing the ocean with sharks can be a nerve-wracking thought, even for the most seasoned divers. What if there were a natural, non-lethal way to keep sharks at a safe distance? Recent research suggests that cuttlefish ink might be the answer. It is much needed: a recent tragic dive boat accident in the Red Sea that led to 11 deaths was prevented from being rescued quickly because of sharks in the area, according to witnesses.

Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) are known for their impressive camouflage skills and their ability to release a cloud of ink when threatened. This ink isn’t just a visual smokescreen—it also contains chemical compounds that can overwhelm a predator’s sense of smell. Sharks, in particular, rely heavily on their acute olfactory senses to navigate and hunt. The compounds in cuttlefish ink are thought to disorient sharks, making them less likely to approach the source of the scent.

Recent research from University College Dublin indicates that cuttlefish ink, particularly its primary component melanin, may serve as an effective shark deterrent. The study found that melanin can bind to shark olfactory receptors, potentially overwhelming their sense of smell and causing them to avoid areas where the ink is present.

“Understanding how prey species like cuttlefish have evolved to exploit specific vulnerabilities in predators like sharks enriches not only our understanding of marine ecosystems but provides inspiration for conservation tools rooted in natural processes,” said Colleen Lawless, a researcher in the study.

Modelling the three-dimensional structures of shark olfactory receptors by using genetic data from several shark species including the Great White Shark, Colleen and her colleagues Dr Graham Hughes and Dr John Finarelli discovered melanin possesses a molecular structure that lets it latch onto the smell receptors of these ocean predators, disrupting their sensory perception.

And because sharks generally share the same core set of smell receptors despite differences in lifestyle and habitat, the binding effect likely extends to all shark species, making it likely effective across most shark species.

This discovery suggests that deploying cuttlefish ink, or synthetic analogs, could create safe zones for divers by deterring sharks without harming them. Such an approach could enhance diver safety in regions like the Red Sea and Australian waters, known for frequent shark encounters. Additionally, this method offers a non-invasive alternative to traditional shark deterrents, which often pose risks to other marine life.

By releasing cuttlefish ink—or a synthetic version—into the water, it may be possible to create a safe zone that deters sharks. This approach could provide a protective barrier, allowing divers to observe marine life without posing a threat to themselves or the sharks.

Practical Applications and Challenges

For this idea to work in real-world scenarios, several challenges need to be addressed:

• Deployment Methods: The ink could be released from wearable devices, such as wristbands or diving suits equipped with small dispensers. Alternatively, underwater “ink bombs” could be deployed around high-risk areas. Or kept on hand during rescue dives. Divers from the Sea Story accident did not want to go on a rescue operation because of the number of sharks circling the floating wreck.
• Environmental Impact: It’s crucial to ensure that the ink doesn’t harm other marine species or disrupt the delicate ecosystem.
• Scalability and Production: Harvesting enough natural cuttlefish ink isn’t feasible, so researchers are exploring synthetic alternatives that mimic the chemical properties of the original ink.
• One of the most exciting aspects of this technology is its potential to protect both humans and sharks. By steering sharks away from popular diving sites, we reduce the chances of negative encounters that could lead to harmful outcomes for the sharks.

While promising, further research is necessary to develop practical applications and assess the environmental impact of widespread use of cuttlefish ink as a shark repellent.

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Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is believed to be the cause of more shark sightings off the coast of Lebanon. In this exclusive report on dynamite fishing we uncovered the extent of the problem in Tripoli –– how fishers are using illegal, handmade dynamite to blast fish out of nature reserves. The Mediterranean Sea is overfished. And blast fishing is having an impact on other sea life, including sharks and possibly whales and sea lions.

On social media people in Lebanon are worried about getting attacked by sharks, with resorts this past summer warning bathers about the danger at sea. Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is when fishermen drop handmade explosives into the water making it easier to kill tonnes of fish using one blast. The blast damages the fish gills and they float to the surface making for an easy but deadly haul. The method also kills fishermen when not detonated correctly.

Sharks are getting closer to the shore now and locals in Lebanon blame blast fishing: “This makes it easier for sharks to compete with fishermen for their fish,” one local in Lebanon said. “This changes the behavior of sharks.”

There has not been a fatal attack by shark in Lebanon, but predators can be a threat to humans if they get too close. Some large sea creatures like orca whales are fighting back against humans by deliberately sinking boats off the coast of Morocco. One orca attacked by a fishing boat is teaching other orcas how to fight back.

Tel Aviv is 250 miles from Beirut and just last year there was an unusual sighting of a sea lion which lingered for several days on a beach of Jaffa, the sister city to Tel Aviv. We visited her there as she languished in the sun. Although veterinarians say that she appeared to be unharmed perhaps she was a victim of Lebanon’s blast fishing? Sea lions are rarely seen in Israel, and live in clusters further north. Sea lions do compete with fishermen for fish.

Also in May, 2022 a dead sperm whale washed up on the shore of Tel Aviv. It was the third dead whale to wash up on Israel’s shore that year. Dr. Aviad Scheinin, the head of the marine biology department at Haifa University, told the Maariv news site that it was a young sperm whale and that its advanced state of decomposing made it difficult to immediately determine the cause of death. Scheinin noted that sperm whales are endangered in the Mediterranean Sea.

Blast fishing in Lebanon may be the cause for dead sperm whales, sea lions on shore and new shark sightings. Time to stop the barbaric practice. But with Lebanon hosting a terror group Hezbollah within its own state, it is obviously impotent when it comes to enforcing laws that protect citizens. Remember the 2020 bomb blast in Beirut due to negligence? We can’t expect Lebanese biologists to have any power in stopping blast fishing at sea so international organisations should be getting involved.

These researchers in Tanzania heard blasts from dynamite fishing more often that whale calls. They say that blast fishing kills all marine life. Seal bombs are also used in California. How can we stop the practice of blast fishing globally?

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At some point in our lives we’ve been to a science museum where we see the stages of animals in embryo form growing from an egg or inside the womb. In the early stages we all sort of look like like a lizard or a puppy. But at some point we start to diverge and develop our characteristic traits.

Scientists have recently studied the hammerhead sharks start to grow their iconic head shape about halfway through gestation, discovered scientists who conducted the first study of bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) embryos at different developmental stages.

In this small species of hammerhead shark, which gives birth to live young, the cartilage that forms the hammer develops about two months after conception. It first appears near the nose and then expands sideways. And did you know that a baby hammerhead shark is called a pup?

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Every Saturday in winter, curious spectators come together near the power plant in Hadera, on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, to witness the gathering of dozens of sharks. The spectacle takes place mainly between December and March, at the junction between the Hadera stream estuary and the OROT RABIN power station.

Update: sharks attack and kill swimmer in 2025 in Hadera

The reason for the shark’s arrival at the Israeli coastline has yet to be established, but it is certainly a unique phenomenon, as large shark populations are usually found at open sea. Strangely enough, in this case, the sharks gather in a narrow strip of less than half a mile. As part of the research into this fascinating natural event, some of the sharks have been tagged with acoustic transmitters and remote sensors.

The tagged individuals are a couple of four-meter-long female dusky sharks and a few male sandbar sharks, (which are slightly smaller and reach about 2.5 meters in length) both of which are classified as vulnerable species in the Mediterranean Sea and are listed in the red list of IUCN.

Local fishermen have known the phenomenon for a while, but with each year the number of sharks arriving at the beach increases, and their stay is getting longer. In the past, the fishermen would also encounter other shark species, such as Hammerheads, which are much larger, but rarely spotted these days.

A selfie with a shark

Following the great interest of the public in the shark phenomenon, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) together with the non-profit organization EcoOcean, researchers of the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, the Hadera Municipality and with the support of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), have established an information station in the Haderastream, staffed with volunteers from the INPA and EcoOcean.

Photo by Alina Fischman

Besides providing information on the local shark population, the center offers educational activities for both travelers and dive instructors, in order to promote eco-tourism with sharks. Diving clubs in the region are already marketing diving packages alongside the sharks.

But despite all the efforts, researchers believe that the emerging shark tourism might have negative effects. For this very reason, Ziv Zemah Shamir, a doctoral student at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, established by the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, devoted his doctoral thesis to examine the effects of people on sharks.

“In order to test behavioral changes in sharks, we used drone footage, kayak observations, diving surveys, and underwater acoustic devices. Also, we interviewed fishermen, divers, kayakers and beach visitors,” explains Zemah Shamir. “The results of the study show that the presence of divers and vessels affect the shark’s swimming activity, as they are trying to evade – change direction and speed, or conversely express interest in divers, cameras and electronic equipment (sharks have electromagnetic sensing capabilities). This comes at the expense of their hunting and resting time. In short, the sharks invest more energy into being attentive to the commotion around them than in looking for prey and going about their normal lives.”

Zemah Shamir, who spends most of his days alongside the sharks, says that he witnesses some aggressive behavior toward them – and even cases of shark hunting by rogue fishermen. “Two or three years ago, we came across quite a few fishermen who tried to hunt the sharks,” he says. “We are only at the beginning of our study, but we have already seen people trying to touch the sharks and take pictures with them, which does not cause physical damage, but certainly increases the stress level of the sharks.”

It should be noted that the two species of sharks occurring in this area are not aggressive toward humans, but there have been cases of attacks, however, none of which in Israel. “We have also observed incidents, using drone footage, in which sharks were fleeing from quickly approaching jet skis,” continues Zemah Shamir. “The water in this area is very shallow and the sharks have almost no chance to evade.”

”Trash and other debris left behind on the beach, most of it made of plastic, is sometimes washed in the sea, and eaten by various smaller fish, which are later swallowed by bigger fish, and eventually reach the shark’s stomachs,”, he explains. “Sharks are at the top of the marine food chain, therefore harming the lower levels will ultimately also affect the sharks.” Fishing waste (discarded fishing gear; nets, lines, hooks) in the water also has the potential to damage the variety of fish, including sharks. And indeed, sharks were observed with hooks in their mouths.

“They want to see sharks, and they want to see them now”

“Nowadays we often talk about the conflict between the practices of shark fishing and shark tourism. Obviously, we prefer shark tourism, because no sharks are harmed, but also because studies we’ve conducted show that shark tourism is more profitable”, says Zemah Shamir. “But you have to understand that shark tourism also comes at a price, and this price I try to quantify in my work. Evidence already exists, from our studies and from other parts of the world, that shark tourism has adverse effects on things like reproduction and migration.”

“If this phenomenon had taken place at sea, shark tourism could have been easily regulated and controlled,” he adds. “But here, because of its accessibility, people simply drive out to the Hadera stream, walk five minutes and arrive at the site. We also talk to the boat owners, but we have no control over those who come here from the sea. Some do not even have a license for their vessel, and they do not care about anything. They want to see sharks and they want to see them now. ”

Zemah Shamir makes a distinction between guidelines for visitors and for divers: the guidelines for beach travelers are to keep the beach and the sea clean and not to feed the sharks. In the past, he says, they have already encountered people arriving at the beach with whole chickens to feed the sharks.

The guidelines for divers are more detailed and include the scuba diving warnings of the Nature and Parks Authority and the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The reason there is a greater focus on scuba diving regulations stems from the fact that the area has strong currents and vortexes as a result of coastal infrastructure like the Hadera breakwater combined with a hot water influx coming from the power plant as well as desalination plant water.

“We plan to build an observation platform, which will hopefully open sometime this year. Moreover, there will be signs with information and activities for visitors who come to see the sharks,” explains Shira Salingre, of The Nature and Parks Authority. The project is a collaboration between the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), the director of the Israel Diving Authority of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, Adam Konstantinovsky, the Israel Diving Federation and the “Sharks in Israel” group.

“We also want to ban fishing in the area. To this end, we are trying to work with the fishing authorities,” Salingre says. “As to sailors and divers, we are right now in the process of formulating behavioral codes to make sure we really do not interfere with the sharks to a degree that will harm them.

Although dive warnings have been positioned at the site, the IPA does not oppose diving in the area but instead wants to give divers the proper tools to avoid any disturbances to the animals while maintaining their own safety and interest. “We believe that if the municipality of Hadera decides to issue diving permits for the area, they should do so, having the proper scientific knowledge, which is why we provide them with guidelines,” she adds.

Until the project takes shape, and shark tourism on the site will be more organized, it is important to know that the general public, can do its bit to help protect the sharks by being respectful of the animal’s environment and by following the guidelines.

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Many discoveries relevant to conservation of threatened species are emerging from commercial fish markets in Yemen, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.

Informal networking is significantly improving the biological knowledge bank, with fisherman often reaching out to academics when unusual creatures appear in their nets. Rima Jabado, a PhD student at United Arab Emirates University, was contacted by a fisherman who caught an unfamiliar shark, resulting in the first scientific record of a sand tiger shark in UAE waters.

It’s not unusual to find legally protected species such as whale sharks for sale in markets. Shark fishing is prohibited by law in Saudi Arabia, yet large numbers of sharks are sold openly at local markets.

How the shark came back to life

Jabado told Scientific American, “There is clear need for better enforcement of current legislation.”

Fish market surveys are increasingly being used to supplement traditional field sampling as they capitalize on industry resources that can magnify the breadth and scope of a research team’s study.

Julia Spaet, a researcher at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, says that “the resources dedicated by a fleet of fishermen will always outmatch any scientific efforts to assess abundances. The fishing industry is more efficient at finding sharks where there are not many left.”

The surveys are tricky. Researchers have to identify, count, measure and document the “species of interest” before fishermen move the catch to market.  They often buy the fish outright to step around time constraints (of getting freshly caught fish to vendors) and uncooperative fishermen.

Let’s go back to that resurrected shark.  In 1902, naturalist Wilhelm Hein discovered the fish in Yemen and brought a specimen back to Austria.  It sat unnoticed in the Vienna Museum for decades; so we can assume the facility was relatively cat-free.  In 1985, well past its sell-by date, naturalists identified it as the first (and only known) specimen of Carcharhinus Leiodon, or smooth-tooth black-tip shark.

“Some suspected it might be extinct or not a valid species,” said Alec Moore, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group’s Indian Ocean group, since scientists had never found others.

During a 2008 Shark Conservation Society research expedition, Moore spotted among the many species of whaler shark in a Kuwait fish market one that looked similar, but different, to other species. Turned out to be another smooth-tooth black-tip, caught more than 3,000 kilometers from where Hein’s fish was found; the first of its kind seen by scientists in over a century.

In 2013, Marine & Freshwater Research reported that recent studies in fish markets throughout the region have located 47 additional smooth-tooth black-tip sharks, greatly increasing what scientists know about this species. Better understanding of how large the sharks grow, number of offspring, and data on habitat enables development of an effective species conservation and management plan.

Moore offers this tip to land-based shark hunters, “Always go to the fish market with a camera, especially in tropical countries where there is little data—there is always the chance that you could find something new.”

Image of Julie Spaet and shark from Julie Spaet and KAUST

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