Coral Reef Crisis: Deadly Epidemic Wipes Out Black Sea Urchins in Red Sea

Mass mortality of sea urchins threatens to destroy Eilat coral reef

Fish feeding on a dying Diadema setosum urchin in the Mediterranean Sea. Courtesy of Tel Aviv University

The black sea urchin in both the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Eilat in Southern Israel faces a deadly epidemic, according to a series of new studies.

Thousands of sea urchins living in a site near the northern shore of the Gulf of Eilat died out over the course of a few weeks. The entire population of black sea urchins in Eilat was wiped out over a couple of months.