Insane photos as tourists flock to swim with sharks in Israel

As dozens of sharks gathered near the shore near Tel Aviv, tourists have flocked into the water in what has become a bizarre annual tradition.

Tourists rushed into shark infested waters in northern Israel in what has become a bizarre annual tradition.

Photos show crowds of swimmers surrounding sharks in waist-deep water as the creatures swim through the Mediterranean Sea by the city of Hadera.

The dusky and sandbar sharks surrounded by crowds of tourists are often up to three metres long.

The sharks gather each year to swim in warm water outflows, which run into the sea from an outlet from the city’s nearby power plant.

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A swimmer paddles with a shark at Hadera north of Tel Aviv. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

Tourists film a dusky shark. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

Authorities have warned the tourists not to get close to the sharks. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

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While fearless beachgoers waded in holding their phones out snapping photos of the sharks, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority has warned amateur and professional divers to keep away from the creatures.

“The interaction with sharks is neither predictable or controllable, and in recent days there has also been a change in the sharks’ behaviour,” the authority warned.

The sharks are both endangered species and feeding and interacting with them is illegal.

The majority of the sharks seen in the waters off Hadera are dusky sharks – but the smaller sharks are likely sandbar sharks, said Dr Aviad Scheinin, an expert on apex predators at the University of Haifa.

The sharks arrive to swim in warm water outflows from a nearby power plant. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

Crowd around everybody. It’s friendly. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

In the Mediterranean, the sandbar sharks are endangered and there is not enough data on the dusky sharks to determine their status, he told AFP.

The mostly female dusky sharks come in late November and leave in early May, Mr Scheinin said.

“We think it might be something to do with the reproductive cycle,” he said. The mostly male sandbar sharks arrive in January, although this season researchers found one female among some 20 males, he added.

“We’re not sure why they are coming. It’s an open question,” Dr Scheinin said of the sandbar sharks.

– With AFP