Sea surface temperatures continue to rise in Gulf of Eilat — annual report
National Monitoring Program finds coral cover almost back to levels of before March 2020, when storm wreaked havoc, but warns about continued fertilizer and runoff contamination
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Sea surface temperatures continued to rise last year in the Gulf of Eilat on Israel’s southernmost tip, increasing by some 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) weekly from mid-July to mid-August to reach around 1.5°C (2.7°F) above the average for the period, according to the annual report from Israel’s National Monitoring Program in the Gulf of Eilat.
“Throughout the year, the sea surface temperature measured daily next to the Underwater Observatory and the nature reserve reef was higher than the multi-annual average,” the report said.
Winter surface temperatures were also up, with the annual average temperature around half a degree Celsius (0.9 °F) higher than in 2022.
After Prof. Amatzia Genin’s laboratory began measuring these temperatures in 1988, the annual average sea surface temperature rose at a rate of 0.34°C (0.6°F) per decade. Since 2004, when the National Monitoring Program began, it has increased by 0.42°C (0.75°F) per decade.
The highest sea surface temperature on record was 31.0°C (87.8°F), logged in 2021.
The report found that stony coral diversity and composition in Eilat’s reefs changed only slightly from year to year, indicating a stable community structure. Last year, coral cover bounced back to levels close to those of March 2020, when a strong southern storm wreaked havoc.
Colony density was also higher last year than in the previous two years.
The fish community seemed stable in composition, diversity and size, the report went on.
In notes of caution, however, the survey found that average coral density at the Coral Beach Nature Reserve, popular with visitors, was the lowest measured by the monitoring program to date.
It also warned about accumulating fertilizers and runoff washing into the sea. Both encourage algae blooms.
Last year, a mass die-off of black sea urchins caused by a suspected pathogenic parasite removed one of the ecosystem’s main algae grazers.
A key role of the sea urchins is to prevent algae from taking over and suffocating the corals, which compete with them for sunlight.
The report noted that the sea urchin population was “currently ominously small” and that recovery could be “very slow — if at all,” recommending a complete ban on fishing for algae-eating fish in the north of the Gulf.
The Inter-University Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat carried out the monitoring, which was funded by the Environmental Protection Ministry.
It was submitted by Dr. Yonatan Shaked, director of the monitoring program at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences, and Prof. Maoz Fine, the institute’s scientific director.
Backed by a wide range of organizations, the Environmental Protection Ministry is fighting moves by the Prime Minister’s Office to scrap its “zero additional risk” policy in the Gulf of Eilat and allow more oil in.
The reefs are seen as highly important and underpin the southern city’s tourist economy.
