AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi - 3 June 2015
1. Various of Dead Sea
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Gundi Shachal, coordinator with the 'Friends of the Earth Middle East' organisation:
"The Dead Sea is shrinking by the minute almost. There we can see it in front of our eyes and the reasons are the weather conditions and human intervention. We divert the water of the Jordan river, the Yarmouk river and all the other rivers around. Syrians, Jordanians, Israelis and all the people living around the area are into it together. And we are also evaporating water, Jordan and Israel in the South, for mineral extraction which keeps the evaporation area large."
AP TELEVISION
Southern Dead Sea - 27 September 2015
3. Various of mineral plant facility in the southern Dead Sea area
4. Wide of mineral extraction facility with Dead Sea in background
5. Mineral extraction facility
AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi - 29 September 2015
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Shukrun, former manager of the Ein Gedi public beach:
"I was working here for 20 years. I was the manager of the beach and just till six months ago they closed the main road because of the big holes in the ground. And the ground it opened just like an earthquake. And the engineer of the city hall they come and they say they have to close this place and they, they closed and it is very sad to see it like this, but you can not do nothing about it so everything is closed here and I have no job."
7. Various of sinkholes
AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi - 3 June 2015
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Gundi Shachal, coordinator with the 'Friends of the Earth Middle East' organisation:
"Sinkholes are actually the result of dissolving of a salt layer which is about 18 metres underneath the ground level. As long as the Dead Sea waters were high they were covering this salt layer and nothing happened really because salt couldn't be dissolved. But recently, the last 30 years, the Dead Sea is shrinking by one metre to one and a half metres each year and the salt layer got exposed to flowing underground water, sweet water and got dissolved and washed away into the sea. As a result the ceiling sinks in."
AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi, 29 - September 2015
9. Shukrun walking up to his home
10. Various of Shukrun unlocking the gate
11. Shukrun walking with his dog
12. Shukrun with his dog, UPSOUND (English): "I live here. This is my house and this is my garden I have trees with fruit and dates and all kind of fruits and I think in a few months I have to leave from here, I have to live somewhere else because it is very dangerous to stay around here."
13. Pan of Ein Gedi
14. Wide of sign reading (English/Hebrew) "Danger, open pits"
15. Various of empty shops and buildings
AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi - 3 June 2015
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Gundi Shachal, coordinator with the 'Friends of the Earth Middle East' organisation:
"I think the first solution has to be reviving the Jordan river, the southern Jordan River because it is one water system, the river and the sea and also maybe reviving some other rivers around. To do this I think it would be necessary for Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians to sit around a round table and to talk to one another and manage their water resources together, because all three people are dependent on the same water."
AP TELEVISION
Ein Gedi - 29 September 2015
17. Mid of dead palm trees in Ein Gedi
18. Various of sink hole
19. Mid of signs pointing to Jerusalem and Elat with the Dead Sea in the background
LEAD IN:
Dangerous sink holes have been appearing in areas surrounding the Dead Sea.
Environmentalists say it's simply a knock-on effect of the lake drying-up and that now is the time to act.
STORY-LINE
The idyllic blue waters of the Dead Sea.
One of the seven natural wonders of the world, but not for much longer say environmentalists.
The sea is reportedly shrinking by over 1.5 metres a year and the race is now on to save it.
Experts say climate change coupled with human intervention have put evaporation on a fast track.
"The Dead Sea is shrinking by the minute almost," says Gundi Shachal, coordinator with the 'Friends of the Earth Middle East'.
"There we can see it in front of our eyes and the reasons are the weather conditions and human intervention. We divert the water of the Jordan river, the Yarmouk river and all the other rivers around. Syrians, Jordanians, Israelis and all the people living around the area are into it together. And we are also evaporating water, Jordan and Israel in the South, for mineral extraction which keeps the evaporation area large."
Mineral extraction activities are ongoing, particularly in the southern part of the lake.
Spanning 50 kilometres (31 metres) in length and lying 429 metres (1,407 feet) below sea level, the lake is one of the saltiest in the world.
But as the sea level has dropped, salt layers have been dissolved by freshwater, leading to the appearance of sink holes appearing in the area as salt plateaus disappear.
They appear without warning and have become so prevalent - some say into the thousands - that public beaches have been forced to close.
"I was working here for 20 years," says Shimon Shukrun, the former manager of the Ein Gedi public beach.
"I was the manager of the beach and just till six months ago they closed the main road because of the big holes in the ground."
Once a popular tourist destination on the shores of the Dead Sea the public beach has now been closed, deemed inaccessible and 'dangerous' by the authorities.
And the ground it opened just like an earthquake. And the engineer of the city hall they come and they say they have to close this place and they, they closed and it is very sad to see it like this, but you can not do nothing about it so everything is closed here and I have no job."
He still lives nearby but is worried he might soon be forced to move.
"This is my house and this is my garden I have trees with fruit and dates and all kind of fruits and I think in a few months I have to leave from here, I have to live somewhere else because it is very dangerous to stay around here."
The resort, once packed with visitors is now deserted and rotting.
It can not be saved, but scientists hope there's still time for the Dead Sea.
The sea borders Jordan to the east and Israeli and Palestinian territory to the west.
Many plans have been put forward to help save the lake and the surrounding area.
Most recently Israel and Jordan signed a deal to begin work on the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal project which would help replenish the salt lake.
Shachal believes a better way is to revive the Jordan river - the lake's largest tributary.
"I think the first solution has to be reviving the Jordan river, the southern Jordan River because it is one water system, the river and the sea and also maybe reviving some other rivers around."
Regardless, she says, those countries which border the lake can not shy away from their responsibilities.
"I think it would be necessary for Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians to sit around a round table and to talk to one another and manage their water resources together, because all three people are dependent on the same water."
