IN DEEP WATERS

I was informed of the engagement of my second grandson I wrote about  just a few hours after sending off my last blog. After completing his officer’s course and before beginning his task  as commander of his special brigade my grandson Meir, nicknamed “Memi” was given a few days’ vacation. He proposed to his girlfriend of 5 years while they were scuba diving in Eilat. “Meir” in Hebrew means “lighting up”. His future wife’s name is “Or”,  which is the word for “light” in Hebrew. Hopefully it will prove to be a “match” made in heaven.

I am living in a senior residence complex and one of the most outstanding people living here is a man - of many parts - called David Darom. Apart from his worldwide  expertise on knives, hand guns and the flora of Israel, he  has perhaps more  first-hand knowledge about Eilat than anyone else.

David Darom was the first student in Israel to study marine biology  at the Hebrew University. Consequently,  he was sent to study the subject in marine laboratories around the world. In 1969 a marine biology station was built on the shore at the Gulf of Eilat and David was offered the position as resident scientist – a dream come true. He executed approximately 2,000 scuba dives while living in Eilat at the marine station.

His great love was always nature photography  but he couldn’t afford the expensive underwater and other photography equipment required. When a team from the National Geographic Society came to Eilat for several days to look for a particular flat fish which secretes poison to repel sharks, they almost went away disappointed. When David heard about this he immediately took them to a little shallow bay where these particular fish hide in the sand. It was a simple job to uncover the fish and net them. 

As a mark of their gratitude the National Geographic team left him with a professional kit of photographic equipment worth thousands of dollars, enabling him to photo hundreds of species of underwater creatures for four years. As a result, amongst his  33 beautiful illustrated books, five are  connected to the seas around Israel.

lion fish

According to David, one of the unique features of Eilat, which distinguishes it from all other seas in the world, is the fact that the coral reef is “shore hugging” - no more than 10-15 metres from the shore. Amongst its exotic reefs is one which had never been visited by man and discovered by David in 1969, during an aerial survey. There, it was possible to reach to the end of the shallow reef only a few metres from the beach, where the sea suddenly dropped down to over 500 meters!

Among its myriads of colourful fish is one that cannot be found in any other seas.  Although only about 2 inches long its sparkling metallic purple colour renders it visible from a very long way. David also discovered a completely unknown fish which was given his name “upeneus davidaromi”.

In general Israel, which can be traversed from one end to the other in less than a day, has a remarkable variety of marine habitat, from the Dead Sea in the desert, to the Mediterranean in the west, and the Red Sea in the south.