Israel’s Jellyfish Wars
Stinging Feud: Israeli jellyfish experts are squabbling over who is best equipped to warn the public. Image by haaretz
Israel’s battle for better jellyfish warnings has also developed ego-driven disputes and divisions that look ridiculous to outsiders.
Prof. Bella Galil of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute (IOLRI) has been following jellyfish swarms for decades and her institute now operates a Facebook page called Jellyfish Watch, with reports on jellyfish sightings at Israel’s various beaches.
But Jellyfish Watch has a competitor in the form of a website called Meduzot (jellyfish) at meduzot.co.il, which is operated by Dor Edelist and Dror Angel, two energetic marine ecologists from the University of Haifa. Both sites opened last year, only about a month apart, and both are based in Haifa.
“They’re the opposition; we’re the coalition. There’s a war and we’re better,” insists Edelist from the Meduzot site. “Our website was first. There’s a certain degree of cooperation, but it’s not easy to work together. They prefer to ignore our existence and don’t give us any credit. I’m all in favor of cooperation and sane management on their part.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
