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Bring the breakwaters • There is a better way to protect marine life

Feeding the sand at Kiryat Haim beach is required, but it harms the marine animals that have recovered impressively over the years - there is something to be done.

For some time we have been reporting on the sand feeding operations that are carried out time and time again on Kiryat Haim beach, in order to deal with the chronic retreat of the sand that occurs there again and again.

Feeding sand at Kiryat Haim Beach (Photo: Motti Mendelson)

The damage is there

The retreat of the sand is a chronic problem, and the feeding of the sand is carried out with the aim of stabilizing the beach and protecting it from erosion. Although the current method is considered better compared to previous methods, still, as we have already written before, it causes significant damage to the marine animals.

Rocks are lined with hundreds of thousands of Parana oysters - when they are covered in sand they die from lack of oxygen (photo: Motty Mendelsohn)

the beach "grew"

The process of feeding the sand in Kiryat Haim is in advanced stages, and thanks to it the beach has "grown" significantly. However, it is known that this is not a permanent solution, and the beach will "return to normal" in the near future, as always happens. The new method in which the sand is poured causes relatively less damage to sea life, but it still definitely exists.

Impressive restoration of your life at sea

The sea in Kiryat and Haifa Bay has been clean for a long time, this after a large part of the marine life has recovered and returned to such good condition, almost as it was forty years ago.

Invasive Parana oysters and native oysters that were damaged and covered (photo: Motty Mendelson)
A cluster of keeling plates and final sea plates clinging to the rock in order not to drift and breathe (photo: Motty Mendelsohn)

Nature wastes nothing

In the shallow water, on top of a rocky bed, Perna oysters settled - an invasive species that managed to thrive in the area. Although it is an invasive species, Fern oysters do not cause harm, but are a source of food for other animals, and other animals even settle inside the dead oysters, which shows that nature does not waste anything.

The rocky area covered with sand (photo: Motty Mendelsohn)

inevitable damage

The feeding of the sand, which includes adding tons of sand to the area, does the job in terms of stabilizing the beach, but it harms marine life. In rare photographs, you can see blue plates and final sea plates, which, unlike the Perana clams, are attached to their base but are able to move. The plates overlap each other to breathe, in a process reminiscent of shipwreck survivors clinging to everything in their path to survive.

Rocks covered with hundreds of thousands of live oysters (photo: Motty Mendelsohn)

Breakwaters needed

Although feeding the sand presents certain advantages, long-term thinking is necessary in order to treat the problem from the root. The most effective solution is the construction of breakwaters, which will not only protect the beach from erosion, but will also serve as an artificial reef, which will provide a suitable environment for the regeneration of marine life.

The rocky area covered with sand (photo: Motty Mendelsohn)

long term solution

The breakwaters will be able to help maintain the beach for a long time, and prevent the need for repeated sand feeding. In addition, they will create a suitable environment for the development of diverse marine life, and will contribute to the ecological restoration of the area.

The oysters that remain alive - only a few dozen (photo: Motty Mendelson)

contact: At watsapBy email

Motty Mendelssohn
Motty Mendelssohn
Marine researcher (diving, underwater photography) and marine and environmental ecology for 35 years. Lecturer in the field for about 20 years. You can order a lecture or a series of lectures accompanied by unique and spectacular photos, taken during many years of research, in Israel and abroad • 050-7271157 • [email protected]

Articles related to this topic

9 תגובות

  1. They argued that the breakwaters block the drift of sand from the Nile Delta to the north
    They also said that the source of the sand that fills the beaches is in Haifa Bay, which is contaminated with fuels and oils from ships

  2. Fascinating article as usual. I grieve with you for the death of the animals, I also photographed masses of crabs near the rocks in Kiryat Haim that were apparently buried in the sand. What a shame. A breakwater seems to me to be the right solution. And beautiful one hour earlier! The sand just "passes and returns"...

  3. Instead of agreeing with the new port on the construction of breakwaters worth tens of millions. They closed with them on sand sowing worth hundreds of thousands of NIS... they also carry out that as they please...

  4. Absolutely right. There are beaches in Israel in front of which breakwaters were built with spaces between them, which allowed on the one hand stabilization of the sand on the beach and on the other hand allowed a certain level of flow (Netanya), without creating closed lagoons (as was the case with the Bat Yam breakwater in the 1970s). In the long term, this is a cost-effective solution because there is no need to order new sand filling every year.

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