Dr. Amit gained his Ph.D.in Biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he worked with United Nations scientists researching jellyfish sting protection. Dr. Tamar holds BSc and MSc degrees in Biology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in Genetics and Biochemistry from The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot. Previously, she founded NanoCyte, Inc, a biotech company using marine stinging cells for pharmaceutical drug delivery.

Remember Finding Nemo and where Nemo lived? Dr. Amit and Dr. Tamar studied the relationship between clownfish and sea anemones. Sea anemones belong to the same family as jellyfish. Yet, clownfish can live happily in anemones, passing in and out without getting stung. Sea anemones keep clownfish safe from predators that would get stung if they got close.

It turns out that clownfish have a coating on their skin that prevent sea anemones from considering it an enemy, and so clownfish do not get stung.

These little fish, like Nemo, greatly inspired Dr. Amit and Dr. Tamar to invent a sunscreen that could offer protection similar to the clownfish's coating that protects it from getting stung.

Jellyfish, sea lice, fire coral, sea anemones, and other organisms that belong to the phylum Cnidaria family are all equipped with stinging cells.

These stinging cells consist of a capsule containing a condensed highly folded eversible needle with potent toxins. The discharge of this needle is driven by the building up of a high internal hydrostatic pressure of 200 atmospheres. This pressure is about 100 times the pressure in a car tire and is similar to the pressure that exists in scuba diving tanks.

When jellyfish come into contact with their target, the folded needle is fired from the capsule at accelerations of up to 40,000xG, similar to the acceleration of a shell being fired from a cannon. The jellyfish toxins are delivered into the prey through the needle which resembles a multi-headed poisonous arrow.

Pretty scary stuff...

Safe Sea® contains unique and patented ingredients that ideally help protect against jellyfish stings in several ways:

Too slippery: Safe Sea® has a waterproof, slippery texture that makes it difficult for stinging tentacles to attach to the skin.

Taking a tip from our friend the Clown Fish: Safe Sea® absorbs secretions from the skin which mimic jellyfish self-recognition.

Disrupt communication: Chemical stoppers in Safe Sea® block the chemical pathways where the stinging mechanism is activated.

Disarm: Jellyfish stings are among the most rapid mechanical events in all of cellular biology. Safe Sea® reduces the pressure in stinging cells to not fire – effectively disarming them.

Absolutely not. Safe Sea® was designed to use chemical confusion to help prevent jellyfish from considering us an enemy, just like the clownfish's coating confuses the sea anemone.

We want Safe Sea® to be safe for us and safe for the sea because we love our planet and want to take care of it. It is our only home.

It's very important to us that Safe Sea® is Hawaii 104 Reef Act Compliant (Octinoxate & Oxybenzone free), and Certified Reef Friendly by the Friend of the Sea International Organization.

Here is what the Friend of the Sea Org. said about Safe Sea®:

Safe Sea®, the first sunscreen truly Friend of the Sea.

Not all sunblocks are friends of the sea. According to both U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU regulations, sunscreens marked as “water-resistant” can lose 50% of their sun protection factor after 40 minutes of water bathing.

Recent studies have shown that Benzophenone-3 (BP-3; Oxybenzone), an ingredient in sunscreen lotions and personal-care products that protects against the damaging effects of ultraviolet light, contributes to coral bleaching and reef deformation, as it affects DNA and disrupts coral reproduction and growth. According to these studies, even small doses of Oxybenzone – about a drop in six-and-a-half Olympic swimming pools – damage coral.

Although countries like Hawaii are trying to remedy this environmental disaster by creating a long-term “Coral Bleaching Recovery Plan” to prevent further damage and promote regrowth after specific events, it could be too late.

In order to minimize the impact of sunscreens on the marine environment, Israeli company Nidaria Technologies has developed Safe Sea® sunscreen. Water resistance tests of Safe Sea® by AMA Lab New York and Dermatest Australia revealed that 97% of sun protection remains on the skin even after 80 minutes in the water. In vivo testing of fish and anemones' behavior in water exposed to Safe Sea® for 24 hours demonstrated that the sunscreen is safe to the aquatic organisms.

Friend of the Sea, one of the major international certification schemes for sustainable seafood and aquaculture products, has recently decided to validate Nidaria’s long-term commitment towards environmental sustainability by awarding Safe Sea® as Friend of the Sea.

“In order to provide total protection, we developed a sunscreen formulation with extreme water resistance, which does not leak nor dilutes in water even after prolonged water activities. All Safe Sea® ingredients are stored within the formula and do not dilute nor release into the water. The formula provides high skin protection after prolonged swimming and it protects the environment from sunscreen contamination”, explains one of the company’s founders, Dr. Amit Lotan, who earned his PhD in Biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he worked with United Nations and the US Navy scientists researching jellyfish sting protection.

“Friend of the Sea certification can be achieved by other sunscreens releasing less than 5% of their chemicals to the water after 80 minutes in the water” comments Paolo Bray, founder and director of Friend of the Sea “We really hope other producers will be motivated to reach this goal and that the certification will drive a quick change in the industry towards more sustainable sunscreens”.

Source: https://friendofthesea.org/safe-sea-the-first-sunscreen-truly-friend-of-the-sea/