JERUSALEM – Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority issued a warning on Monday that told Israelis to avoid the waters near Hadera, a city in the center of Israel near the Mediterranean coast, because of large populations of sharks infesting the waters there.
According to a bulletin posted on the INPA’s website, sharks reach the area of the Hadera power plants every year between the months of December and April, when the Hadera power plants pour warm water into the sea.
The sharks appear in groups and stay in shallow waters. Recently, the INPA and the Authority on Sport Diving noted that the presence of sharks draws divers intending to observe and film the sharks.
The INPA said its warning is intended to deter the public against diving in the waters near Hadera at this time because it was deemed dangerous for reasons not related to the sharks.
The authority noted that there are strong currents creating vortexes that can risk people’s lives, as well as loose fishing equipment, like fishing lines and hooks, which may injure and endanger the divers.
In addition, the authority said, the encounter with the sharks cannot be predicted or controlled and may harm both the divers and the sharks.
The INPA stressed in its statement that the sharks are endangered animals and harming them, feeding them or bothering them in any way is a criminal offense.
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