Jordan's King Abdullah II does his part in cleaning up the Red Sea
Towards the end of the video you can see the king saving the life of a sea turtle entangled by a rope, which is chaining the turtle to a rock on the seafloor.
By ZACHARY KEYSERPeople are seen as the sun sets over a beach in the Aqaba Gulf on the Red Sea, south of Amman(photo credit: REUTERS)
Jordanian King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah were documented deep-sea diving off the coast of Aqaba – doing their part to clear the Red Sea of rubbish, and even saving a sea turtle along the way, according to Channel 12.The king and his son can be seen in a diving group working to clear plastic and other waste from the ocean floor off the coast of Aqaba, an ecosystem that is home to over 500 types of fish, corals and other marine-based wildlife.Toward the end of the video you can see the king saving the life of a sea turtle entangled by a rope, which is essentially chaining the turtle to a rock on the seafloor.The video, posted by the Jordanian Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, was released as part of a wider campaign to draw tourism to the coastal Red Sea city as well as being a plea to help conserve the marine ecosystem. Aqaba plays a key role in driving the Jordanian economy - both through tourism and import/export activities stemming from the Port of Aqaba.Tourism in Jordan's lone coastal city has increased in recent years, reportedly due to the tense security situation in the Sinai desert – a direct competitor of Aqaba – in addition to it already being an inexpensive travel destination and a haven for diving enthusiasts.Aqaba has also recently added a few new hotels around the city, falling in line with the Jordanian government push to bring tourism to the area. According to Channel 12, the destination is also popular among Israelis who visit the seaside city to do some deep-sea diving of their own, and catch a glimpse of the sunken ships and planes that litter the ocean floor just off the coast of Jordan.
