Human Impacts

     As the population in Eilat has grown over the past 30 years, so too have the human impacts on the reef.  Pollution, floods, diving, shoreline development and urban sewage plague these reefs and threaten impending doom.  Destruction has been high especially in the past ten years.  The biggest destruction the reef faces comes from diving.  Eilat has come to be known as one of the best reefs for diving in the world.  Divers come from all over attracted by the plethora of beautiful and unique fish that swim among the equally diverse corals.  Sadly, all of this beauty brings in a lot of destruction from the divers. With more than 250,000 dives per year in just a 12 km area, destruction is high.  Divers unintentionally damage the corals by breaking their skeletons or damaging their tissues affecting the growth and reproduction of the corals.  Compared to the reefs in Egypt, Eilat had the most damage from diving with up to half of all colonies broken in certain species.
     The Eilat Reef is extremely vulnerable to pollution because the gulf that the reef is situated in has a low rate of water exchange with the Red Sea.  The pollution the reef battles is the culmination of several different pollutants, including the port of Eilat, sewage outflows, and fish culture facilities.  Coral death has been linked to such pollution, especially sewage waste.
     Floods wash silt and sedimentation into the reef.  This creates a layer covering the reef, which damages the corals as well as affects the larval settlement and recruitment (the population of young coral that are entering adulthood).
     Another human impact that the reef faces is overfishing.  Fishing can alter the ecological balance in a reef.  Intensive fish farming in the area has lead to eutrophication, a leading threat to water quality.  There has been observed tissue damage to the corals upon eutrophication.  Eutrophication can also cause algal blooms, and the algae competes with the corals for space on the reef.  Although it has not been definitively proven, it appears that the eutrophication has damaged the coral, because in areas where no diving is allowed there is still damage.

The numerous dive sites along the reef.

Image taken from: http://www.luckydivers.com/eyal/english/english_guided.html?gclid=CIii6-Ho8LMCFUdxQgodnTgAag