From Eilat to the Galapagos, a diver documents rare underwater encounters and warns of marine damage

Noa Lavi, 25, from Eilat has built her life around the sea. She has worked as a dive instructor for the past three years, spending the last year back in Eilat, which she calls the “city of eternal sun.” She says the ocean has felt like home since childhood, when family holidays in Eilat meant asking for one thing, a discovery dive at the Dolphin Reef.

Lavi has photographed many underwater encounters, but four stand out. One was with an eye octopus, Octopus cyanea, a highly intelligent creature with three hearts and nine brains. She recalls that it approached her directly, then extended several arms and touched her hand. “I felt his suction cups stick to my hand, gently,” she said, describing it as “a respectful encounter between a person and a marine creature.”

Another memorable experience came in April, when more than 10 giant manta rays, Mobula birostris, arrived in Eilat’s bay. Lavi went out every morning until she finally saw one. She said the experience was unlike anything else, even after dozens of dives with manta rays in the Maldives. She also traced her professional path back to a first official course during military service at the Manta dive club, then to a planned one-month trip at age 22 that became a two-year journey. During that time she worked in the Maldives, Honduras, Panama and the Galapagos Islands, and now teaches guided dives and certification courses at all levels in Eilat.

In the Galapagos, while volunteering at a local dive center, she was especially moved by sea lions, which she described as behaving like puppies under water. She also documented the dramatic transformation of the emperor angelfish, from a juvenile with blue-and-white concentric patterns to an adult with yellow and blue stripes and a dark mask, which helps young fish avoid territorial adults.

Lavi says her work also exposes the damage humans cause beneath the surface. Plastic bags can look like jellyfish to sea turtles and other animals, she said, causing starvation and suffering when swallowed. Waste on corals blocks sunlight, triggers bleaching and can destroy reefs that take centuries to grow. She added that reefs cover less than 1% of the seafloor, yet are home to more than 25% of marine animals and produce much of Earth’s oxygen. For her, diving is not just a job but a source of calm, healing and purpose, and a way to teach others respect for marine life.