This figure appears in the annual report of the National Monitoring Program of the Bay of Eilat for the year 2023 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection; The report indicates that the sea level continues to warm at a rate 2.5 times higher than the global average in a way that endangers the reef, and reinforces the need for its restoration
For photos from the monitoring of the Gulf of Eilat, the Inter-University Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, and the report: https://did.li/YCHaa
The Ministry of Environmental Protection publishes the national monitoring report of the Bay of Eilat for the year 2023, carried out by the Inter-University Institute, funded by the Fund for the Prevention of Sea Pollution, under the guidance of a scientific management board headed by the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Prof. Nega Kronfeld-Shor and led by Dr. Dror Tsurel, the scientific center of the national unit for the protection of the marine environment in the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The report was submitted to the executive committee by Dr. Yonatan Shaked, director of the monitoring program at the Inter-University Institute, and Prof. Mooz Payne, scientific director of the monitoring program at the institute.
The findings of the report indicate that the ecosystem of the Bay of Eilat is not stable, and reinforce the need to continue implementing the "zero additional risk to the Bay of Eilat" policy outlined by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
According to the report, as long as the global climate changes - such as the warming of the sea water and the increase in acidity - do not improve and even deteriorate, there is an immediate need to reduce the local effects of sea pollution and oil spills that the reef will have difficulty dealing with.
Also, it was found that the lagoon site in the Almog Beach Reserve has not yet recovered from the damage caused to it in 2010. In addition, an outbreak of disease in the sea urchin population in the bay led to the almost complete disappearance of their population, which endangers the sensitive ecological balance. In addition, the continuation of the sea surface temperature rise trend, at a rate 2.5 times higher than the global average, affects the chemical and physical processes in the sea in a way that endangers the reef.
main findings:
1. The condition of the coral reef: at most of the monitoring sites, an increase in the density of stony coral was measured, in some even to the level that existed before the unusual March 2020 storm, which resulted in the loss of about 22% of the cover. However, the lagoon site, the area between the reef and the beach in the Almog beach reserve, is failing to recover. This area has been in decline since 2010 for a reason that is still unknown.
2. Concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and chlorophyll in the Gulf of Eilat: In 2023, a rapid increase in nitrogen concentrations and a rapid decrease in the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the deep waters were measured, this is in contrast to what was measured in the past after deep mixing events. So apparently, the deep mixing that occurred in 2022 was too short and did not have enough time to clean the deep water of the excess nutrients that had accumulated in the gulf.
The Bay of Eilat is poor in nutrients, which are a limiting factor for the growth of algae and corals - a situation that enables the delicate balance between them and gives the Bay of Eilat its properties (such as clear water). Any addition or subtraction from the natural concentration of nutrients in the sea water may cause extreme changes in the condition of the reef. For example, an increase in the concentration of nitrogen in the water leads to microalgae blooms, which increase the turbidity of the water and prevent the sunlight necessary for the photosynthesis activity of the corals from reaching the reef.
In the Gulf of Eilat there is an annual cycle of mixing water layers. In the summer, an upper layer of warm water forms and below it a layer of cold deep water, where the nutrients that sink to the bottom accumulate. The separation between the layers prevents microalgae blooms. In winter, the upper water cools and sinks, allowing mixing. The colder the water, the deeper it sinks.
Every few years there is a deep mixing that brings up nutrients from the deepest layers in the gulf, a mixing that "cleanses" the gulf of excess nutrients. In the first years of monitoring, deep mixing was measured once every 3-4 years. Since 2012, this frequency has decreased significantly and for 9 years no deep mixing has occurred. In 2022, deep mixing occurred for the first time since 2012, bringing to the surface a large amount of nutrients that had accumulated over nearly a decade, resulting in high water turbidity and algal blooms.
3. The water temperature: the trend of the increase in the deep water temperature recorded in the previous surveys continues. At the same time, the sea surface temperature has also been on the rise since 1988, at an average rate of about half a degree per decade. This rate is 2.5 times higher than the global average calculated by the IPCC. In addition, the deep water heating trend continues, which is expected to affect the behavior of the entire system.
4. Defects in animals: In 2020, individuals of foraminifera (foraminifera, marine unicellular creatures) with deformations in their calcareous skeletal structure were found for the first time on the north coast. This deformity indicates a disturbance in the formation of the calcareous skeleton by these creatures. This finding was first observed in 2020 and continued to appear in the following years. This phenomenon was not observed in 2023.
5. Sea urchins: In 2023, a disease broke out in the population of sea urchins in the Gulf which caused widespread mortality, and it is not clear if the population will succeed in recovering. The sea urchins play an important role in the reef as grazers, feeding on the algae that compete with the corals for settlement sites on the reef. In the meantime the reef is not affected by the disappearance of the sea urchins, as the algae are eaten by vegetarian fish. It is hoped that a disease that harms the vegetarian fish will not break out. This situation emphasizes the vital role of vegetarian fish in the ecosystem and reinforces the need to ban fishing in the Gulf of Eilat.
Recommendations:
1. The findings of the national monitoring continue to point to the sensitivity of the Eilat Bay ecosystem. The pressures on marine flora and fauna are divided into long-term pressures, such as the warming of the sea, and large and fast extreme events, such as the 2020 winter storm and the death of sea urchins. The findings indicate that the ecosystem of the Bay of Eilat is unstable, and reinforce the need to continue implementing a zero-risk policy for the Bay of Eilat outlined by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Given that the global conditions, such as the warming of the sea water and the increase in acidity, are not improving and are even deteriorating - the reef will have difficulty dealing with local effects of sea pollution and oil spills.
2. The disappearance of sea urchins emphasizes the importance of vegetarian fish in maintaining the delicate balance of the system. A significant restriction to a complete ban on fishing in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Eilat should be considered.
3. The monitoring findings indicate an accumulation of nitrates in the deep waters of the gulf, which are unable to be cleaned as before, which threatens the quality of the entire water column in the gulf. This is a situation that endangers the coral reef and all marine activity in the gulf. The monitoring team recommends taking this information into account and exercising extra caution before any decision that means increasing the nitrogen load discharged into the sea.
4. The ecosystem in Eilat is sensitive to diseases, such as the one that resulted in the death of fish in the summer of 2017 and the death of sea urchins in 2023. Care must be taken to disinfect and filter the output water from facilities containing marine animals, such as existing and future aquaculture facilities and the underwater observatory.
5. The reasons for the inability of the lagoon corals in the Coral Coast Reserve to recover must be investigated.
The Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman: "The national monitoring program in the Gulf of Eilat indicates changes in the state of the marine system as a result of human activity, some from local activity in the Gulf of Eilat and some as part of the global climate changes which do not miss the State of Israel. The sudden and mass mortality of sea urchins in 2023 shows how sensitive this system is and how big changes can occur in it instantly. The coral reef in the Gulf of Eilat is an important natural asset at the local and global level. This report proves the importance of maintaining the policy outlined by the ministry that works to prevent the increase in the transportation of crude oil in the Gulf of Eilat, in order to preserve this national treasure for us and for future generations."
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