Scientist warns of damage by intense mucilage in Turkey's Sea of Marmara

By Tarik Kose and Ahmet Pesen

BALIKESIR, Turkey (AA) - A Turkish scientist urged authorities on Friday to eliminate conditions for the formation of marine mucilage in the Sea of Marmara.

“The mucilage sinks to the bottom and creates a deceptive bottom structure. This deceptive bottom negatively affects both the oxygenation and nutrition of the organisms living there. Action should be taken immediately,” Mustafa Sari, dean of Maritime Faculty at Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, told Anadolu Agency.

“In our dives, we see that the situation is getting worse every week. In my last dive, which I went down to a depth of about 16 meters [52feet], I saw that almost all of the sponge communities died,” said Sari.

He stressed the importance of mucilage cleaning works carried out on the surface of Marmara.

“If mucilage clumps are not removed, the particles coat the sea surface and increase the water temperature. It cuts off the relationship between the water and the atmosphere, reduces the oxygen uptake and causes the death of sea creatures,” he warned.

"We must reduce the sources of pollution that cause mucilage formation in the sea," he said.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz.