Swimming with the sharks: Despite warnings, Israelis dive in with toothy giants

The sharks are known to visit the area near the Orot Rabin power plant in the winter months from November to April.

By World Israel News Staff

Despite being warned by Israel’s Nature Authority to stay away from the sharks, Israelis continue to swim with them off the coast of the city of Hadera, north of Tel Aviv, Walla! News reports on Monday.

The sharks are known to visit the area near the Orot Rabin power plant in the winter months from November to April. They are attracted to the warm water that the plant generates.

The warm water spilling from the plant also contributes to whirlpools and strong currents, another reason to stay away from the area, Walla! News reports.

Israelis aren’t listening. They like swimming with the sharks.

Adi Barash, chairman of the Israel Shark Association, a doctoral student at the University of Haifa, isn’t excited about the warnings and says swimming with sharks in the area is routine, the Israeli news site reports.

“Playing with cockroaches is much worse,” she said, “but it is already a matter of personal preference. At the mouth of the Hadera River, people have been swimming with sharks for several years, every day. Hadera is a very significant tourist attraction for this reason and it is no secret that a lot of people come there to watch, swim and dive with kayaks and boats and gliders.

“This is a unique global phenomenon that is not known elsewhere. We do not yet know how to explain exactly why, and why only with us. It’s not just the hot water, there are now dead fish on the beaches and they also come to find such easy prey,” she said.

At the same time, Barash tells swimmers to respect the sharks’ space.

“On the other hand it is nature, and these are wild animals and should be given breathing space. You see that it is too crowded there. It is still a large wild animal that should be respected and probably their patience threshold is very high, and they studied us and understood that their danger from us is not high.”

Barash didn’t say what the danger from the sharks was.

HaderaIsraeli beaches