What has six legs, a fat, see-through body and resembles a shrimp? It comes from the sea at Michmoret. It is wiggling in the Petri dish of an inquisitive student. He can tell you it lives right off the coast of Michmoret and is one of the many creatures in the family of plankton. It serves as food for many fish especially whales. There are a wide variety of these miniature sea creatures.

Our newest Esra project is located near the sea. We have 17 gifted Ethiopian teenagers – 7^th, 8^th and 9^th graders from Netanya learning a new world of marine biology with Dr. Yael Barkai of Zinman College. They meet once a week to study the science of the sea, sea organisms on display in the laboratory nearby, food chain of local fish and many more fascinating topics all connected to the study of marine biology.

They have sailed in MedX explorer research boats equipped with special microscopes in order to collect and see first hand just what lives in our coastal waters. The day we visited, the students were trying to identify the items they had collected the previous week. They were peering through sensitive microscopes (a new skill in itself) to try and indentify specific organisms.

Denise Susman from Netanya who accompanies the children on their weekly outings, was our guide as we viewed the project with Dr. Barkai.

The children were having a ball learning and we of Esra were bursting with pride at their accomplishments.