Coinciding with International Oceans Day on Monday, researchers from northern Israel’s Haifa University spotted two rare sperm whales off the country’s southern coast.

The researchers from the Morris Kahn Research Station at the Charney School of Marine Sciences were conducting the 11th survey of the Deep Sea Cetacean Project, funded by the Energy Ministry.

Their boat set out on Sunday from a sailing club in Ashdod, on the southern coast, as part of a regional research effort to gather data on marine life in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The plan had been to spend six days surveying out to a distance of 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers).

The team caught sight of the mammals just before having to evacuate to shore, cutting the survey short due to an Iranian missile alert.

A Haifa University spokesman said that they could yet complete the survey if Iran and Israel stopped firing at one another, as the two countries said they would later Monday.

It was just the second sighting of sperm whales since the surveys started, and only the fifth time they’ve been located, although not seen, by special acoustic equipment.

“Moments before we lifted the hydrophone from the water, around 35 kilometers (22 miles) west of Ashdod, at a........

© The Times of Israel