Discovery Of Mediterranean Sea Hotspot Could Transform Our Understanding Of Climate Change

We think that the great explorations of the Earth are long past. Amazingly, this isn’t true of our planet’s oceans. You might say, we haven’t even yet begun to scratch the surface.

This guest piece, written by noted journalist Jacob Kamaras, discusses the discovery of an astonishing “deep-sea hotspot of life and biodiversity” off the coast of Israel in the eastern Mediterranean that is “one of the most extreme environments on Earth.” The implications here for understanding the origins of life and for transforming our understanding of climate change have marine scientists enormously excited.

One of the critical collaborating institutions, the innovating Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, is also involved with another project: deciphering sperm whale communication. Imagine being able to communicate with whales on their terms!

—Guest post by journalist Jacob Kamaras

An unprecedented deep-sea discovery in the eastern Mediterranean could have transformative implications for the scientific community’s understanding of climate change, global sustainability and essential life functions.

A recent expedition off Israel’s coast that was part of a long-term collaboration among the University of Haifa’s Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Inter-University Institute of Marine Research uncovered what researchers described as a biologically diverse paradise, including a rich food web based on methane, hundreds of deep-water sharks and the largest concentration of shark eggs ever found.

“We believe that this discovery of a previously unknown deep-sea hotspot of life and biodiversity may be crucial for the sustainability and resilience of the regional marine ecosystem of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in turn impacting global sustainability,” said the Charney School’s Dr. Yizhaq Makovsky, one of the initiative’s leading researchers.

This discovery harnesses the modern and innovative technological capabilities that have been developed over the last decade at the University of Haifa’s Charney School. These are geared, in line with the University’s academic vision, toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans.

Makovsky explained that the newly discovered habitat off Israel’s coast is sustained by organisms that produce life’s energy through methane-to-sulfide oxidation, rather than the photosynthesis that supports life at the Earth’s surface. This is “one of the extreme environments on Earth,” with conditions that may simulate the primordial environment in which life itself formed.

“Understanding this environment’s functionality can help us understand basic functions of life, its ability to transect crises, and potential life in extraterrestrial environments,” he said.

Investigation of this habitat’s functionality “will allow us to assess the potential effects of global warming on ecological functionality,” added Makovsky. In fact, the eastern Mediterranean Sea was already considered a climate-change hotspot.

“The deep sea is the Earth’s climatic capacitor, mitigating short-term changes,” Makovsky said. “Once the impact of surface synoptic changes migrates to the deep sea, the entire climate of the Earth changes. The eastern Mediterranean Sea experienced multiple climatic and anthropogenic changes at different time scales. Investigating the geological and environmental records concealed in this hotspot will provide a high-resolution record of the impact of changes on the deep sea, which is essential for understanding climatic changes at local and global scales.”

A pioneering interdisciplinary approach

The discovery of the hotspot marks the latest groundbreaking initiative of the Charney School, whose interdisciplinary approach has transformed the study of marine sciences in Israel and the Middle East.

Instead of focusing on a narrow area of research, the Charney School features four academic departments: Maritime Civilizations, Marine Geosciences, Marine Biology and Marine Technologies.

“Marine scientists in Israeli universities traditionally worked in different departments. With the founding of the Charney School at the University of Haifa, marine scientists specializing in varying perspectives come together to synergize each other’s research,” said the Charney School’s director, Professor Ilana Berman-Frank.

The Charney School’s approach offers opportunities for interdisciplinary research that can holistically address past, present and future aspects of the Mediterranean Sea—and for the Israeli population, the Mediterranean is crucial. While in recent years that body of water has garnered increased attention for supplying Israel’s energy through offshore natural gas reserves, it is today the source of more than 60% of the country’s drinking water via seawater desalination.

The dream: to understand the communication of whales “on their terms”

The Charney School is participating in CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) Project, a TED Audacious Project and interspecies communication initiative that is applying advanced machine learning and gentle robotics to listen to and translate the communication of whales. The project is demonstrating that interdisciplinary and global collaboration, supported by cutting-edge technologies, can be used to benefit not only humankind but also other species on this planet.

 In April the University of Haifa joined forces with other prestigious institutions, such as City University of New York, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London and U.C. Berkeley in announcing CETI. The multidisciplinary project combines expertise from several different fields of study, including marine biology, marine acoustics, artificial intelligence and linguistics. Researchers are leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning and noninvasive robotics to listen to and translate the sperm whales’ language and even to attempt to talk back to the majestic creatures. 

  “The dream would be if we are able to communicate with whales, on their terms,” said the Charney School’s Professor Dan Tchernov, one of three University of Haifa researchers who are participating in CETI.

Professor Ron Robin, president of the University of Haifa, said CETI illustrates the Charney School’s unique capacity to partner with world-leading marine sciences programs. “The participation of three researchers from the University of Haifa in this prestigious research project alongside the world’s leading scientists,” he said, “testifies to the extensive work being done at the University and at the School of Marine Sciences, in particular.”

—Jacob Kamaras, is the managing editor of the San Diego Jewish World and the former editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate. Mr. Kamaras specializes in reporting on Israel and the Middle East.