Tag : Mideast

Tel Aviv: An epidemic that has killed all the black sea urchins in the Gulf of Eilat and other parts of the Middle East threatens to destroy coral reefs in those regions, a study released on Wednesday found. "This situation is unprecedented in the entire documented history of the Gulf of Eilat," said a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University. The researchers noted that extensive mortality is also occurring in other countries in the region, including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Turkey. The TAU findings were recently published in Frontiers in Marine Science and Royal Society Open Science, both peer-reviewed. Coral reefs act as nurseries and habitats for countless marine species, providing shelter, food, and protection from predators. They also serve as a natural barrier, reducing coastal erosion and buffering against storm damage. Coral reefs also trap carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, helping mitigate the impact of climate change. Rising sea temperatures, pollution, overfishing, and human activities pose significant challenges to the survival of the reefs Now, an epidemic killing off sea urchins is also raising a dire threat. The source of the pandemic is thought to be a pathogenic ciliate parasite that eradicated the entire sea urchin population in the Caribbean in the 1980s, damaging the coral reefs there irreversibly, the researchers wrote. The current epidemic was first discovered in the Mediterranean but quickly reached the Red Sea, where it is spreading at an unprecedented rate. Within a few months, the epidemic killed all the black sea urchins in the Gulf of Eilat; they died within two days of falling ill. Sea urchins are considered essential for the healthy functioning of coral reefs, ...