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‘Sea snot’ on Turkey’s shores alarms residents

Huge mass of marine mucilage has bloomed in Turkey’s Marmara, as well as in the adjoining Black Sea and Aegean Sea.

This aerial photograph taken on June 4, 2021, in Turkey's Marmara Sea at an Istanbul harbour shows mucilage, a jelly-like layer of slime that develops on the surface of the water due to the excessive proliferation of phytoplankton, gravely threatening the marine biome. [Yasin Akgul/AFP]
Published On 6 Jun 2021

Turkey’s president has promised to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of “sea snot” that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists.

A huge mass of marine mucilage – a thick, slimy substance made up of compounds released by marine organisms – has bloomed in Turkey’s Marmara, as well as in the adjoining Black and Aegean Seas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said untreated waste dumped into the Marmara Sea and climate change caused the sea snot bloom.

Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with some 16 million residents, and five other provinces, factories and industrial hubs border the sea.

Marine mucilage has reached unprecedented levels this year in Turkey. It is visible above the water as a slimy grey sheet along the shores of Istanbul and neighbouring provinces. Underwater videos showed suffocated coral covered with it.

Marine experts say human waste and industrial pollution is choking Turkey’s seas.

They say the rise in water temperatures from climate change is contributing to the problem.

A thick, brown, bubbly foam dubbed "sea snot" has covered the shores of the Sea of Marmara, alarming Istanbul residents and threatening marine life. [Muhammed Enes Yıldırım/Anadolu]
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The naturally occurring mucilage was first documented in Turkey in 2007 when it was also seen in parts of the Aegean Sea near Greece. [Yasin Akgul/AFP]
This outbreak is the largest on record, blamed by experts on a combination of pollution and global warming, which speeds up the growth of algae responsible for the slimy sludge. [Erdem Sahin/EPA]
Istanbul University biology professor Muharrem Balci said when the algae grow out of control in springtime, as they have done this year, they block out the sun and cause oxygen depletion for fish and marine life. [Yasin Akgul/AFP]
The "sea snot" results from a sort of nutrient overload for the algae, which feast on warm weather and water pollution that has grown progressively worse in the past 40 years, Balci said. [Muhammed Enes Yıldırım/Anadolu]
The Marmara Sea, which stretches along Istanbul's southern coast from the Bosphorus to the Aegean Sea, is densely populated and home to numerous industrial sites. [Muhammed Enes Yıldırım/Anadolu]
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Turkey's president promised to rescue the Marmara Sea from the outbreak that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists. [Muhammed Enes Yıldırım/Anadolu]