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Along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, two near-shore dolphin species are prevalent; Tursiops truncatus (least concern, IUCN) and Delphinus delphis (endangered, IUCN). Ship-board surveys and sporadic sightings over the last two decades have shown that the two differ in distribution—T. truncatus is found along the entire coast and D. delphis only in the south. The environmental and anthropological factors affecting these species’ spatial distribution and determining their habitat preferences in this area are largely unknown. This work is a first attempt at summarizing 20 years of observations and studying habitat preferences for both species, by use of Generalized Additive Models. T. truncatus was found to be present in all areas of the continental shelf where survey effort coverage was sufficient, with a high affinity towards bottom trawlers. Model results showed D. delphis distribution to be associated to (shallow) water depths, though the factors driving their limited latitudinal distribution currently remain unknown. It is evident that T. truncatus and D. delphis are present in segregated areas of the Israeli continental shelf and T. truncatus currently sustains a delicate balance with continuously shifting human activities, while the drivers of D. delphis distribution are more specified, yet still not fully understood.

During the last decade, the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) has become the second most sighted species in Israeli coastal waters, after the common bottlenose dolphin. Documentation mostly relies on opportunistic, photo and/or video‐backed second‐party reports, delimited within a 10 km near‐shore strip. Sightings occur year round, are confined to the southern part of the Israeli coast and typically comprise relatively large groups (mean ± SD: 21.5 ± 13.3), often with young calves. Strandings are relatively scarce, typically one per year, and have so far yielded five upper digestive tract contents for diet analysis. Cephalopods comprised 1.2% of the estimated number of prey items in the combined content. Surprisingly, by far the most abundant and prevalent prey item found (57% of pooled prey items; present and dominant in four out of five tracts) was the Balearic eel (Ariosoma balearicum), a sand burrower which is also a major dietary component of the common bottlenose dolphins. Bottlenose dolphins in Israel are known to forage in association with bottom trawlers, leading to the notion that common dolphins also make use of this foraging mode. Indeed, in addition to their association with purse seiners, they have been documented accompanying bottom trawlers, by both day and night. The slender Balearic eels are frequently found protruding from the net's eyes, presumably making easy prey for both dolphin species. Information gaps on common dolphins include range extension to the south/south-west, abundance estimation and genetic flow/isolation. Even so, its unusual diet and the fact that the closest known populations to the north/north-west are from the Aegean Sea, were major considerations in the recent designation of the ‘Coastal Shelf Waters of the South-east Levantine Sea’ as a Mediterranean Important Marine Mammal Area.

Toxoplasma gondii has been described in several marine mammals around the world including numerous species of cetaceans, yet infection and transmission mechanisms in the marine environment are not clearly defined. The Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center has been collating a database of all marine mammal stranding events along the country’s national coastlines since 1993. In this study, we describe the molecular detection and characterisation of T. gondii in three common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) including one case of coinfection with herpesvirus. The animals were found stranded on the Mediterranean coast of Israel in May and November 2013. In one of the three cases, the dolphin was found alive and admitted to intensive care. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii infection of marine mammals in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. As this parasite acts as an indicator for marine pollution and marine mammal health, we believe these findings add important information regarding the state of the environment in this region.

Delaying the placement of immediate fixtures by 6-8 weeks after extraction of the natural dentition allows for the elimination of associated infective processes, the achievement of maximum osteoblastic activity that theoretically could help the osseointegration process and complete wound covering that simplifies the placement of grafts or membranes. This study examines the healing associated with 21 fixtures in 14 patients. The fixtures were placed into sockets 6-8 weeks after tooth extraction without the use of barrier membranes or bone substitutes. Measurements were taken immediately prior to fixture placement and 3-6 months later at the abutment placement. Alveolar bone height, the remaining socket depth and diameter and the depth to which a 3.75 mm fixture could be inserted into the socket were measured. After fixture placement the vertical and horizontal measurements from the cover screw to the surrounding alveolar bone and the distance from the cover screw to the CEJ of the adjacent tooth were recorded. All fixtures were integrated at exposure with 1 failure during the follow-up period. The distance from the cover screw to the buccal plate decreased by a mean of 2.17 mm. There was an increase in the mean vertical bone height at all 4 surfaces. When horizontal defects were present, the mean vertical distance decreased from 2.5 +/- 0.37 mm to 0.36 +/- 0.64 mm. When horizontal defects were absent, the mean vertical distance decreased from 3.86 +/- 0.58 mm to 0.48 +/- 0.25 mm. There was also a marked decrease in the horizontal distance between the bone margin and the surface of the fixture from 1.6 +/- 1.73 mm to 0.02 +/- 0.02 mm. These results indicate a strong tendency for the defects to fill-in the horizontal plane and for bone growth to occur in the vertical plane to the height of the cover screw. In conclusion the delayed immediate placement of fixtures has a good short-term prognosis with bone regeneration occurring around the defect without the use of barrier membranes or bone substitutes.

Delaying the placement of immediate fixtures by 6-8 weeks after extraction of the natural dentition allows for the elimination of associated infective processes, the achievement of maximum osteoblastic activity that theoretically could help the osseointegration process and complete wound covering that simplifies the placement of grafts or membranes. This study examines the healing associated with 21 fixtures in 14 patients. The fixtures were placed into sockets 6-8 weeks after tooth extraction without the use of barrier membranes or bone substitutes. Measurements were taken immediately prior to fixture placement and 3-6 months later at the abutment placement. Alveolar bone height, the remaining socket depth and diameter and the depth to which a 3.75 mm fixture could be inserted into the socket were measured. After fixture placement the vertical and horizontal measurements from the cover screw to the surrounding alveolar bone and the distance from the cover screw to the CEJ of the adjacent tooth were recorded. All fixtures were integrated at exposure with 1 failure during the follow-up period. The distance from the cover screw to the buccal plate decreased by a mean of 2.17 mm. There was an increase in the mean vertical bone height at all 4 surfaces. When horizontal defects were present, the mean vertical distance decreased from 2.5 +/- 0.37 mm to 0.36 +/- 0.64 mm. When horizontal defects were absent, the mean vertical distance decreased from 3.86 +/- 0.58 mm to 0.48 +/- 0.25 mm. There was also a marked decrease in the horizontal distance between the bone margin and the surface of the fixture from 1.6 +/- 1.73 mm to 0.02 +/- 0.02 mm. These results indicate a strong tendency for the defects to fill-in the horizontal plane and for bone growth to occur in the vertical plane to the height of the cover screw. In conclusion the delayed immediate placement of fixtures has a good short-term prognosis with bone regeneration occurring around the defect without the use of barrier membranes or bone substitutes.