eric: this used to be the en gedi beachside resort.families and tourists would stop here to enjoy the sparkling waters. eric: what--are we jumping over here? carmit: yeah. eric: now we're walking into a highly dangerous site, off limits to the public. eric: you can really see it there--look. carmit: yeah, that used to be route 90, which was the main highway in israel, and you can see what is the situation now. a few sinkholes at the main road and also some on the right and on the left of this road, and now there is no way to use it. eric: and this was only five years ago? carmit: yeah. eric: five years ago, there were trucks coming along here, buses? carmit: yeah, and i think that more than six months, people was driving here, and there were holes underneath it. eric: so it was actually hollow? carmit: yeah, like a sponge. eric: geologist carmit ish shalom lived here for a decade, studying a mysterious phenomenon: sinkholes. eric: this area is the first area where the sinkholes caused a big problem? carmit: yeah, here, near the beach.