Ancient cultures have left behind a proliferation of ancient remains along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. These coastal remnants comprise an important chapter in the history of the Land-of-Israel and are an important cultural resource.

The coastal zone is very sensitive to changes. Any disturbance in the coastal ecology has devastating effects. Human interference (mainly sand-mining and construction of detached breakwaters, ports, marinas, and cooling cisterns of power-plants) has caused extreme changes in the equilibrium of sediments along the coast.

The reduction of sediments has exposed antiquities on the sea floor. Without a protective layer of sand, coastal and underwater sites are exposed to erosion and damage by sea waves.

The ancient coastal cities of Israel are currently undergoing a massive attack by man and sea. Twenty years of continuous monitoring and numerous studies of coastal tectonics and sedimentology, have shown that the destruction in the coastal cities Ashqelon, Ashdod-Yam, Yavneh-Yam, Apollonia, Caesarea, Dor and Acre are extremely rapid and stem mainly from human interference in the coastal system. We anticipate that if the process continues at the present rate without our intervention, the greater part of the coastal cities will disappear within 10-20 years. The Israel Antiquities Authority is collaborating with other institutions and companies in various ways to rescue these coastal sites: 1. An emergency plan was formulated with the Israel Electricity Company to reinforce the sea wall at Ashqelon; 2. A reinforcement and protection plan for Apollonia is being carried out in collaboration with the Nature and Parks Authority, the Herzliya Municipality and Tel-Aviv University; and 3. Participation in the 'Internal Affairs and Environmental Committee' of the Knesset in the framework of the 'Law for the Protection of the Marine Environment '.