Treasures of the Bat Galim Reef – Part Two ► Watch

April – The sea temperature is starting to rise, the water is still relatively cold but great, of course I don't miss a single day to go in except for the days when the sea is really rough and less inviting.
It was a month of encounters with marine creatures like gray loggerhead turtles, leopard loggerheads, sharp-nosed loggerheads, and also encounters with familiar green turtles: Diana, Leo, Sol, Francesca, Henry, Gaia, Victoria, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra.

April Collection ► Watch

When I met the green turtle Gaia, I hadn't seen her since October 2024. I was very excited to see her, and then I was shocked to discover that her shell was broken. She is a small turtle (about 20 cm) and has already suffered a huge fracture in her small shell.

Gaia's position ► Watch

This month we also visited the Turkish cement ship, I really like swimming to it, it is about 700 meters from the beach, opposite the Bat Galim promenade.

May

In May I celebrate my birthday and to my delight I receive a sea of ​​gifts from the sea.
At the beginning of the month, a ceremony to unveil the monument to the illegal immigrant ship "Chaim Arlozorov" was held on the Hulda Promenade. In honor of the event, I decided to swim to visit the ship at the same time as the ceremony on land and also to look for the other ship, the barge that was in its vicinity, and that's what happened.
I arrived at Arlozorov, continued swimming and found the barge. There I met a brown sea turtle that looked like it had been through a lot in its life. It gave me a guided tour of the barge, which was twice the size of the Arlozorov and, as far as I know, was also sunk in 1947 at the same time as the Arlozorov.

Brown turtle in a barge ► Watch

I returned to Arlozorov, where I was greeted by the green sea turtle Nefertiti, whom I have known since 2020. She took me on a tour around the ship. It was magical on indescribable levels. You can watch the video and witness the magic.

Nefertiti's pose ► Watch

During the month, I also encountered a cut-tailed bullhead, scaly winged wrasses, leopard wrasses, sharp-nosed wrasses, a huge swarm of predatory combers, and one pharmacist squid.

Encounters with beloved and well-known green turtles: Aphrodite, Henry, George, Charlotte, Diana, Beatrice, Francesca, Nefertiti, Sol, Cinderella, Victoria.
You can see the identity cards I issued to the turtle community in Bat Galim Reef on my website >>> click here.

And the brown turtles: Leonardo, Noah, Meir-Babu and several others who are unidentified.

May collection ► Watch

Some of the green and brown turtles I photographed walking past each other, like Diana the green and Noah the brown turtle, Henry the green and Leonardo the brown. It was magical to the core.

summit meeting ► Watch

After a long time dreaming of meeting a female ostrich and seeing only footprints left in the sand, towards the end of May the long-awaited moment arrived and I met them day after day.
Among all these beautiful creatures, there is the never-ending story, the waste that I collect from the water almost every time.
I collect plastic bags that turtles confuse with jellyfish and can die of suffocation. The bags also break down into small particles that enter the entire food web, fish eat them, and larger fish eat them, and so it goes on.
I also collect long fishing lines of tens of meters which pose a danger to turtles and us swimmers, simply a bunch of trouble!

A winged insect ► Watch

As always, I will repeat my mantra, Bat Galim Reef deserves to be a marine reserve that will protect all the natural treasures we have here. I continue my heartfelt mission to make the voices of our underwater friends heard, to echo the love for the sea and the importance of preserving the precious resource for our lives.
Amen, and future generations will enjoy all this beauty.

For anyone who wants to see more videos, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel where I upload short videos from everyday life >>> www.youtube.com/@tal.mermaid

May we know peaceful days and good news 🙏