The INSIDER Summary:
• The Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth bordered by Israel and Jordan, is receding due to mineral mining.
• A group of 28 swimmers swam across its salty waters to raise awareness of the issue.
• The waters are full of therapeutic minerals, but are toxic to ingest.
The Dead Sea is world-renowned for its extreme saltiness, which prevents lifeforms like fish and aquatic plants from living in it. Tourists from all over the globe flock to its shores to rub its mineral-rich mud on their skin and float in its buoyant water. But the Dead Sea has receded 80 feet in the past 30 years, and environmentalists are concerned that it might not be around much longer.
EcoPeace Middle East, an international environmental group, organized the first-ever Dead Sea Swim to raise awareness of the issue and call for government action.
Twenty-eight swimmers braved the harsh waters to swim from Jordan to Israel.
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The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth at about 1,400 feet below sea level.
Its waters are 10 times saltier than regular sea water. While full of therapeutic minerals, the water is toxic to ingest.
That didn't stop 28 swimmers from swimming nine miles across it, from Jordan to Israel, in the first-ever Dead Sea Swim.
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