But for a network of Israeli conservationists, the bird still has pride of place in the land whose ancient prophets saw in its soaring flight a metaphor for religious exaltation.

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Hit by accidental poisoning and urbanization, Israel's griffon vulture population has fallen to around 180 in the wild, says Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

So as part of the 'Under our Wing' project run by his organization and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the next generation is being reared in captivity before being let loose in the desert with tracking tags.

"We raise the vulture chicks... and after several years we release them to nature," Miller said.

Named "nesher" in Hebrew, the bird has often been mislabeled in scriptures, notably in the King James version of the English Bible, which in Exodus describes God as bearing the Israelites on eagles' rather than vultures' wings.

According to the Biblical Museum of Natural History, many people still feel as uncomfortable as those 17th-century translators did in identifying as a vulture a bird described in noble terms by scripture.

"The vulture is [nowadays] commonly regarded as a loathsome creature," its website explains.

"But in the Middle East, it is the griffon vulture that is the king of birds."

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"Two days ago I waded into the sea… and after about an hour in the water I moved to an area near the Hadera power station, which is where I met the sharks," he told Israel Hayom.

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The hot water gushing from the industrial plant on the coast of Hadera annually draws schools of sharks that are increasingly endangered by overfishing in the Mediterranean Sea.

Sandbar and dusky sharks have been sighted around the power plant for decades, but scientists only started collecting data two years ago. According to researchers, the fact that hundreds flock exclusively to the Hadera power plant every winter qualifies as "a legitimate and rare phenomenon."

Last Friday, Shaul, a resident of Safed in the country's north, traveled to Hadera in central Israel with two friends to snorkel dive.

"During the dive, I drifted around 10 yards away from my two friends. Other than the three of us, there were only fishermen in the area. I was in murky waters some 30 yards from the beach when I started swimming to shore," said Shaul, who was about to make a very unwanted encounter.

"Suddenly a shark caught my flipper and started thrashing my leg. It was extremely powerful. Thankfully, he only ripped off the flipper and it ended there," a relieved Shaul recalled.

"I'm not so experienced, but after that incident, I make sure to follow safety regulations much closer – to stay together with diving partners, because usually when sharks see a group of humans they're more hesitant to attack. It's also advisable to stay away from murky waters, so you can maintain a better field of vision. Additionally, you need to stay calm; in other words, if you start splashing around the shark could mistake you for prey. It's very important to follow safety regulations. It could have ended far worse than it did," he concluded.

Last weekend the Israel Nature and Parks Authority warned the public not to dive near the sharks that gather from December to April in the vicinity of the Hadera power station. The INPA stressed that encounters with sharks are neither expected nor controllable.

The INPA added that the shark is an endangered species. Therefore, according to the INPA, it was "prohibited to harm it, harass it, feed it… and anyone doing so is in violation of the law and risks criminal punishment."

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