Dead Sea needs preservation
Photo: Amit Shaabi
Life on coral reef blossoms
Photo: Eran Brokovitch
Dead Sea, Red Sea nominated for '7 natural wonders' list
After success of ranking world's new seven wonders in 2007, founder Bernard Weber decides to send team to photograph candidates for list of new natural wonders; Israel's seas currently ranked 17th, 18th
Last week the Dead Sea and the Red Sea were nominated to join the list of the "New Natural Seven Wonders" of the world. The nominations were announced by three children, environmental activists from Israel,
Jordan,
and the Palestinian Authority.
The new natural wonders project follows the global success gained by Bernard Weber, who founded the New Seven Wonders election last year. Over 100 million people worldwide participated in the vote, to replace the outdated list of ancient sites.
Eilat reef chosen for unique marine life (Photo: Eran Brokovitch)
The list – including structures famous in the ancient world for their feats of construction, such as the pyramids of Giza in Egypt – was compiled during the Roman period in ancient Greece. The site of the pyramids is the only one of these wonders that can still be seen today.
Dead Sea: The lowest place on earth (Photo: Doron Nisim)
On July 7, 2007 the new seven wonders were announced in Lisbon, Portugal, but the vote for the seven natural wonders is still on, offering voters a chance to choose through the New7Wonders website. There are currently 77 sites to choose from, and these will be narrowed down to 21 on July 21, 2009. Then the vote for the final seven will begin.
Warner's team is currently touring the world in order to photograph these unique places, and it has already chosen both the Red Sea (currently ranked 17th) and the Dead Sea (ranked 18th) as finalists. They are competing with sites such as the Grand Canyon and the Ganges River.
The Dead Sea was chosen for its status as the lowest place on earth as well as its rich history, and also in order to raise global awareness for the need for its preservation. The coral reef in Eilat was chosen for its unique marine life.
