Thousands of jellyfish swarm power station in southern Israel
Israel Electric Corporation says it is on high alert in order to avoid disruptions in power production; the marine animals are seen all along the coast as the jellyfish season has kicked off at Israeli beaches
The Israel Electric Corporation said swarms of jellyfish arrived at the Rutenberg Power Station in Ashkelon on early Thursday morning in the seawater used by the station to cool off the operating systems.
The jellyfish have piled up on the filters of the power station, which prevents them from entering the station’s operating systems. The marine animals are then taken to designated tankers.
In recent days, the jellyfish season has kicked off in Israel with thousands of marine animals arriving at the country’s shores.
Some of them were drifting towards to various infrastructures along the coastline, which includes the power station in Ashkelon and Hadera Desalination Plant.
"The coastal power stations are prepared for the summer. This includes the arrival of jellyfish, the maintenance and treatment of the filtration systems which percolate the seawater pumped used for the purpose of cooling off the systems,” said Shmulik Lev, an engineer at the Israel Electric Corporation.
“When we receive an alert about a swarm of jellyfish approaching the station, we increase the number of workers involved in cleaning filtration systems from the jellyfish caught there, as well as the number of workers who would take care of them in the event of a mishap," he added.
