By Karin Kloosterman
Israel 21C
via Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Israel's EcoOcean charts the deep 'green' seas
Israeli non-profit organization's custom-made ship EcoOcean enables scientists from all over the world to study marine
life in the Mediterranean in an effort to improve the marine and coastal environment. The vessel is equipped with wet
and dry labs and has been used to help dozens of marine-related projects get off the ground.
Scientists once thought that most of our planet's oxygen is produced in the heart of lush jungles and rainforests. Not
so, says Michael Rosenfeld, program coordinator and scientist at EcoOcean - an Israeli non-profit organization that
built and funds a unique seafaring vessel that would make Jacques Cousteau proud.
"Seventy-five percent of the globe is covered by the ocean. Most of our oxygen is coming from plants in the sea and it
is the main thing that is balancing our atmosphere," Rosenfeld told Israel 21C.
EcoOcean provides free use of its ship and facilities to students and professors in environmental marine research. In
the last few years since it began operating, EcoOcean has helped handfuls of marine-related projects get off the ground
- including their own watchdog project to track and monitor marine pollution known as "hot spots" off the coast of
Israel.
But international scientists have also used the organization's boat, the Mediterranean Explorer, for studying
uninhabited islands off the coast of Eritrea in Africa; in Turkey's Black Sea to trace evidence of the great flood
during the time of Noah; and to determine that the Roman city of Caesarea was in part destroyed by an ancient tsunami.
While some of the projects veer off course into areas that are not strictly environmental, the main thrust of EcoOcean
is to offer its ship, equipped with wet and dry laboratories, to those fighting to improve the marine and coastal
environment.
Government-owned vessels do exist for taking scientists out to sea, but they tend to be outdated, are difficult to book,
and are extremely costly. But not as costly as the price of the environment and what could happen if we don't take
action.
These details concern Rosenfeld, who recently completed post-doctoral work in marine ecology at the Weizmann Institute
of Science. Global warming is changing the face of the planet. It is not only making our summers unbearably hot, it is
heating up our oceans as well.
Even slight changes in the ocean's water temperature, scientists fear, could render the balance catastrophically
unstable. And we are already seeing how global warming is affecting coral, an early-warning indicator species.
"Damaging the sea is the same as a smoker intentionally ruining his lungs," says Rosenfeld, a coral specialist, who
chooses the projects EcoOcean will bring on board.
And when EcoOcean says 'on board', they mean literally. The state-of-the-art boat not only offers scientific lab
equipment for collecting and analyzing deep-sea samples, but it also provides below-deck cabins that sleep 11, a modern
kitchen, and a crew that loves to tell tall tales of the sea. When Israel 21C ventured out to sea with EcoOcean's
founder Andreas Weil to measure effluents from Tel Aviv's Yarkon River, it felt much more like a holiday than a day at
work.
Most recently American scientists from the University Columbia, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Canadians from
McMaster University have had the same impressions while collaborating with EcoOcean; Istanbul Technical University has
also with worked in the boat berthed on the Mediterranean Sea not far from Tel Aviv in Herzliya. Anyone studying the
marine environment is welcome to apply.
Founded by scientists from Tel Aviv University together with Weil, a Swedish-born environmental philanthropist, the
group was brainstorming and recognized a huge hole in marine science research in Israel and the Mediterranean region in
general.
Weil, who immigrated to Israel in 2000 was raised to be an avid environmentalist. After moving to Israel, he soaked up
environmental education at the Arava Institute in Israel before appealing to his family to see if funding for an
environmental dream boat could be built.
"I think about the environment every day," says Weil. "And it is tough on me to see how slow the progress for change is
in the world."
Swedes are known for their love and respect for the environment. When challenged to reduce car emissions by 2020, the
Swedes, says Weil, took on the challenge with shining colors: today about 20 percent of their cars are
environmentally-friendly. He recognizes that Israelis often have greater threats to negotiate: "The biggest concern here
is security, security, security. For some, an anti-missile system for protecting Israel's borders is more important than
drinking water," he told Israel 21C.
But there are some advantages to being a marine scientist here in Israel, points out Rosenfeld. "All the scientists know
each other and are in good contact. If you look per square meter, there is more research being done here in Israel on
reefs than in other places in the world. Israel is small and our scientists work together."
As part of its mandate, EcoOcean runs a land-based marine education center not far from Tel Aviv, and it also conducts
its very own marine research that it plans to publish in a top-notch marine journal. This research will be used as
"evidence" when environmental groups go to war against factories in Israel - still sending grave amounts of effluents to
the sea.
But don't make the Greenpeace comparison please, notes Weil, "We don't want to be known as activists. We are
environmental educators, conducting real-world marine research that will spell out the situation in the Mediterranean
Sea in black and white. Right now the most important project for us is that we finish our survey on the water quality in
Israel. People don't know how bad it is."
Collaborating with the Ministry of Environment, EcoOcean is offering at least two different settings for marine
education at the elementary and high school levels. Recently, EcoOcean opened the visitor center "Megalim" (Discovering)
where ecology, biology and marine environment education activities are conducted.
The classroom full of microscopes and aquariums does about 50 percent of its teaching from what the group collects at
the beach. Or kids aged 10-18 spend the day at the Alexander River to learn how pollution affects animals and the sea.
"When they are studying with us for 6-7 hours a day, these kids are amazed," says Weil. "They do not behave like normal
kids do, running around and shouting, but pay attention very carefully to what they are learning."
Today EcoOcean today is supported by a donation given by the Weil family in Sweden: The Weil Family Foundation, and the
Weil Company. The Weils have funded the construction of the boat and support ongoing research.
As for future plans, Weil hopes to secure external funding for EcoOcean. Jumping ship will never happen on his boat: "My
goal is to run EcoOcean all my life, whether or not I am living in Israel," he says. "It will always run as an
information organization and our long-range plan is for our scientists to become authorities on marine research and
write papers under our organization's name."
It sounds like Israel's environmental ship has finally come in.
(Courtesy Israel21C via Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
ENDS