Water chemistry database
A key characteristic of the EMS is the very low concentration of dissolved nutrients present in the water column. University of Haifa had purchased and put into operation a very high sensitivity automated nutrient analyzer, specifically to enable us to understand the nutrient cycling processes on the Israeli shelf.
Sediment microbiome Database
Sediment microbiota plays a significant ecological and biogeochemical role in marine ecosystems due to their high abundance relative to the overlying water column. The microbial community is very dynamic and sensitive and can rapidly change due to environmental changes. Therefore, characterization of the sediment microbiota may be used as an important tool for assessing environmental health and indicate changes within the ecological system.
Photogrammetry in the Mesophotic
First Attempts at Photogrammetry in the Mesophotic Reefs of the Easternmost Mediterranean
By the Marine Imaging Lab & Morris Kahn Marine Research Station of the University of Haifa
Yuval, H. Nativ, S. Martinez, D. Tchernov, T. Treibitz
85 Meter deep dive in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
As part of our long-term ecological monitoring work, we are constantly searching for potential sites of interest, especially at depths that require the skills of our technical diving team. In October 2019, we conducted a first impression dive at a site of interest in Achziv at 85 meters depth. Prior to the actual dive, we collaborated with other scientists to identify a suitable site that meets our needs. For this survey, we searched for a site with rocky substrate until 100 meters depth, much deeper than our usual dives to 45 meters. Why rocky substrates?
Spotlight on Professor Barbara Block
Prof. Block has been working alongside our Apex Predator Lab for a couple of years now, and we are excited to host her in our Mediterranean Sea!
In our upcoming conference she will present her decades-long research on Bluefin Tuna, as the leading researcher in her field for many years. Here is a link to her lab at Hopkins Marine Research Station (Stanford University).
We will be tagging with her outside of the conference when the sea permits us.
A CCR expedition to Bermuda
And our journey continues… Previously, we introduced the research pair of Dr. Tali Mass from the University of Haifa in Israel and Dr. Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), while they were collecting larvae in the gulf of Aqaba in March of this year. Now they are together again, collecting larvae in the same depths and latitude, but in Bermuda, an isolated island in the western Atlantic Ocean.
Food web in the EMS
We have our 3rd seminar under our belts… And we are so grateful to have hosted Prof. Paul Falkowski from Rutgers University .
The day was filled with interesting presentations from the likes of Dr Assaf Vardi, Dr Mark Altabet, and our own research station presenting their recent discoveries.
A special thanks to Ecoocean – למען הסביבה הימית for their continued support, and to all that came today.
AAUS Scientific Diver course
After a satisfying 10 days we ended our first American Academy of Underwater Sciences “Scientific Diver” course at The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel with the great help of our DSO, Eran Rozen, and our staff of experienced diving researchers.
International research collaboration
Last week, divers of the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, were proud to support an international collaboration of scientists from Israel and Bermuda, all of whom are certified AAUS CCR divers. The operation took place at the Interuniversity Institute for marine sciences in Eilat, Israel, and examined different aspects of global climate change on impacted coral reefs.