From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 4, 2024
At northern beaches, some 70 bags of soft tar collected by staff and volunteers
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Some 70 bags of soft tar are collected from several beaches in the north following the discovery of soft tar along the wash line.
Staff from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and volunteers from EcoOcean clean up beaches at the Taninim River Nature Reserve, near Jisr az-Zarka, and at the Dor and Habonim reserves south of Haifa.
In 2021, the authorities closed all beaches from Rosh Hanikra in the north to Ashkelon in the south following what was described at the time as the worst marine oil leak off Israel’s Mediterranean coast in living memory. The tides brought tar from an oil leak traced to a Syrian-owned ship to Israel’s shores, killing sea turtles, birds and fish.
August is a busy month both for beachgoers and for sea turtle hatchlings, which clamber to the surface of their nests and scuttle to the sea, hoping to avoid birds of prey and other dangers along the way.
