Palmahim Slide Hope Spot
The Palmahim Slide is an area of deep-sea waters that can be found 20-50 km off the coast of Tel-Aviv, Israel that have been found to house rare, deep sea species.
Over the last decade, a national and international deep-sea research collaboration led by Dr. Yizhaq Makovsky of University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research have discovered two rare and important habitats – methane seeps and deep-water coral gardens – which had not been seen before in the south-eastern Mediterranean Sea.
This submersible is similar to the robot E/V Nautilus that identified methane seeps and deep-water coral gardens in the Palmahim Slide (c) University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research
Hadas Gann-Perkal, Marine Projects Coordinator and Dr. Ateret Shabtay, Marine Ecologist with The Society for The Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) believe this area needs to be urgently protected. Together with the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority they submitted a reserve outline in 2021 to the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection. Since then, the Minister has published on World Ocean Day, June 8th 2022, a draft proposal for the designation of the area as a marine protected area, something Gann-Perkal and Shabtay hope to see put to action.
Zoom in and out on the map to get a closer look of the Hope Spot!
International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has formally recognized The Palmahim Slide as a Hope Spot with Hadas Gann-Perkal and Dr. Ateret Shabtay as the Champions – the first in the state of Israel.
Dr. Sylvia Earle Celebrates the Palmahim Slide Hope Spot (c) Cut Canvas Creative, University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Sean Molloy
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue says, “I want to give my strongest support to Champions of the Palmahim Slide in Israel.” She continues, “I hope the policymakers there follow in the Hope Spot’s steps in declaring the Palmahim Slide as a no-take, give-back marine reserve large enough to protect the marine life that is there and allow no destructive activity in its vicinity.”
The Mysteries of the Deep Sea
The deep sea is understood to have potential as the largest habitat on Earth, yet only a small portion of it has been explored.
In two expeditions in 2017 and 2021 scientists discovered the critically endangered bamboo coral and brine pool habitats, a breeding site for the Blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus), and a sighting of the Angular Roughshark were recorded as well (Makovsky and Rubin-Blum 2021).
Blackmouth catshark (c) University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research
Beyond making The Palmahim Slide an official marine reserve, the Champions’ goal is to ensure continued science-based conservation on-site via continued exploration and research.
Gann-Perkal says, “The deep sea is speculated to possess the greatest biodiversity on earth, yet only a small portion of it has been explored. In the Mediterranean, coastal areas are extremely populated and are facing numerous pressures, however the deep-sea is still relatively untouched – or at least, that’s what we think.” She concludes, “The deep sea represents a whole new frontier teeming with the hope that conservation efforts can and will pay off.”
Learn more about current efforts to formally protect the Palmahim Slide on Mission Blue.
