FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE RED SEA

Facts you didn’t know about the Red Sea

1. Marine Biodiversity

• The Red Sea is home to more than 1,200 species of fish, including sharks, rays, turtles and clownfish.
• It is home to more than 300 species of corals and up to 2,100 species of fish, of which approximately 10% are endemic.
• It is home to a wide variety of animals, from microscopic plankton to whale sharks.

• Species that inhabit the Red Sea include spinner dolphins, dugongs, manta rays and sharks.
• Some notable fish include the Arabian angelfish, masked butterflyfish and the Red Sea bannerfish, along with rare species such as the humphead wrasse.
• The Red Sea is home to several species of sharks, including hammerheads, tiger sharks and whitetip sharks.

2. Curiosities about the Name

• Although it is called the Red Sea, its waters are not red.
• One theory suggests that the name comes from a cyanobacterial algae called Trichodesmium erythraeum, which during certain periods produces a reddish colouration on the surface.

3. Jaques Cousteau and the Underwater City

• In 1963, explorer Jacques Cousteau built an underwater city called Conshelf II, consisting of two laboratories at different depths.
• In it, 10 oceananauts lived for a month.

4. Diving records

• Ahmed Gabr, from Egypt, set the record for the deepest dive with a depth of 332.35 meters.
• Saddam al-Kilany achieved the record for the longest dive by spending 14 hours underwater.

5. Apnea Records

• William Trubridge descended 124 meters and held his breath for 4 minutes and 34 seconds.
• Alexey Molchanov reached 131 meters in 2021.
• Alessia Zecchini set the women’s record at 123 meters in 2023.

For all this and much more, we are very excited about our Egypt Trip.