Yet, despite these facts, thousands of people flock to its shores every year. Seventy miles from the Mediterranean, the Dead Sea lies at the bottom of an enormous trench on the boundary between Israel and Jordan. Fed from the north by the waters of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea is actually a 50-mile long salt lake, divided into a deep northern basin and a shallower southern basin. With no outlet, the trapped water rapidly evaporates, leaving a mineral-saturated soup 10 times saltier than any ocean. Anything submerged in it is soon covered in rock salt.
Viewers meet three men who work in and around the Dead Sea.
Moti Goen, the captain of the Lot's Wife the only vessel operating on the Sea risks death diving into the brine, knowing that instant death awaits those who swallow or breathe in the water. Captivated by the Dead Sea since childhood, Professor Zvi Ben Avraham of the Dead Sea Research Center takes low frequency sound readings of the sea floor that illuminate the extraordinary depths of one of Earth's deepest cracks. Geologist Eli Raz explains how the Sea formed as an arm of the Great African Rift Valley flooded by the Mediterranean. Despite its uninviting reputation, the Dead Sea remains a popular destination for those seeking sanctuary and retreat. Christian Orthodox monasteries have been built out of the caves in the cliff walls.