Header Photo Credit

*The stunning photo in the header of my blog is all thanks to Ron Shoshani. Visit his facebook page for more of his amazing photographs of Tel Aviv!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Dolphins in Tel Aviv? Did Flipper "Mit-fa-lep"?


Dolphins are starting to warm up to Tel Aviv. This Saturday, 15 dolphins were spotted off of the coast of Tel Aviv and Hertzliya, leading experts to believe that the bottle-nose of these under water mammals might be a due to a Jewish gene in their DNA.

No, but, for serious folks.  They may not be Jewish, but they love the warm waters of Tel Aviv as much as anyone.  And they've been loving it more and more, and researchers believe that they are making the Mediterranean waters of Israel their home. 

According to Haaretz, Tel Aviv is on it's way to becoming a dolphin spotters paradise. 

"We believe there are between 300 and 400 Mediterranean bottlenose dolphins near Israel's shoreline," Dr. Aviad Scheinin chairman of the research center, which is a non-profit group, said yesterday. "The data of the past year strengthens research I did at the University of Haifa showing that the bottlenose dolphin has a permanent population near Israel's shores and is an inseparable part of Israel's flora and fauna."
Read More! 

5 comments:

  1. sidenote: "להתפלף" L'hitfalep means to 'flip out' or 'go crazy' or 'loose it' in Hebrew!

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  2. Does Tel-Aviv still have the Dolphinarium? I was there MANY years ago, but I remember having an amazing time!

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  3. Yep! Tel aviv still has the Dolphinarium, but it's not the hot spot that it used to be. However, it's still a landmark that everyone in Tel Aviv knows about.

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  4. Just got back from the Dolphinarium beach, or as we call it "chinky beach" , it was a great day... Sorry for not seeing the dolphins myself. The picture take above is from this beach. It was a full of tourists, and surfers day. Great day

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  5. Hi G-
    I thanks for the comment-
    I wasn't able to see a picture attached.
    Do you have a link to the picture? I'd love to check it out.
    Thanks again for stopping by!

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