The sharks are returning to Hadera's shores

"In three years of research, every year new leeks arrived in the area - and not the ones we documented here before," said Dr. Aviad Sheinin, head of the super carnivores department at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station of the University of Haifa

The sharks are back. As in each of the last winter seasons, dozens of leeks began to arrive at Hadera beach, in the area near the power plant. The researchers of the Maurice Kahn Research Station for the Study of the Sea at the University of Haifa, who study the unique phenomenon of the arrival of the gray sharks, have already set out to meet them. Surprisingly, of the sharks they have met so far, there are none that were here last year or the year before. "In three years of research, every year new leeks arrived in the area - and not the ones we documented here before," said Dr. Aviad Sheinin, head of the super carnivore field at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station of the University of Haifa.

As researchers from the University of Haifa published last year, the phenomenon of sharks gathering in the warm waters during the winter on the coasts of Israel - Hadera, Ashdod and Ashkelon - is a unique and intriguing phenomenon that does not occur in other similar places in the world. The researchers also discovered that most of the sharks that come to her room are actually sharks. In the last few days the sharks have started to return, which allows the researchers to continue their research on this super predator, which until now very little is known about its behavior in our region and in the Mediterranean in general.

Since the study began in 2016, the researchers tagged 38 sharks and sharks, none of the tagged sharks recorded a repeat of the same shark between different years. "They stay in our area until the spring season and then leave the area and do not return. In the framework of the current research year, emphasis is given to understanding the behavior of the sharks in our area," added Dr. Sheinin.

According to what researchers know so far, the waters of the Israeli Mediterranean are much friendlier to the local shark population, compared to other areas of the Mediterranean - where sharks have almost completely disappeared. "In other places in the Mediterranean, there is a decrease of about 90% in the shark population and it is almost impossible to see them anymore. Here in Israel, especially in the winter, you can see dozens of sharks that gather mainly around the outlet of the hot water at the Hadera power plant," said Dr. Sheinin.

So what makes life in Israel so comfortable for the sharks? According to Dr. Sheinin, the fact that sharks are a protected animal in Israel and it is forbidden to fish or trade them by law certainly contributes to this fact, the significant enforcement of the Nature and Parks Authority and in addition the fact that they are not kosher contributes to their survival here. "Shark research is our flagship project at the Morris Kahn Station for the study of the sea and I believe that within a few years we will know how to tell in a better way about the life of our coastal sharks", he concluded.