This viscous foam, called mucilages poses a danger to the marine ecosystem, especially by blocking sunlight.
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A viscous foam has invaded the coast of northwestern Turkey for several weeks under the combined action of pollution and global warming. This natural phenomenon was first recorded in the country in 2007. But the current invasion is by far the largest to date and concerns conservationists.
Sheets of foam, called mucilages, have multiplied in recent weeks in the Sea of Marmara, including in Istanbul, the economic capital of Turkey. According to experts, it is due to pollution and warming temperatures, which promote the proliferation of plant substances at their origin.
These mucilages, sometimes nicknamed “sea snot”, appear when plant organisms living in suspension in the water swell to form a kind of yellowish mucus which covers vast areas of the sea. In addition to the inconvenience for residents and fishermen, this foam poses above all a danger to the sea. ecosystem by blocking sunlight and depriving underwater flora and fauna of oxygen.
The invasion of mucilages could last all summer if urgent measures are not taken, alarms Cevahir Efe Akçelik, environmental engineer and secretary general of the Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects of Turkey. “Studies show that the mucilages are no longer only on the surface, but also at depths of 25, 30 meters”, he told AFP.
The Sea of Marmara, which stretches from Istanbul to the Aegean Sea, is bordered by areas that are among the most populated, industrialized and polluted in Turkey. The Turkish authorities have deployed trawlers to drain the viscous substances, but experts believe that these means are insufficient.
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