Mucilage

Turkish researchers have stepped up their efforts to determine the reasons behind mucilage, which has covered swathes of the Marmara Sea, south of Istanbul, and effective methods to clean it up, as authorities continue their intense cleaning works.

A parliamentary decision on the establishment of a commission to investigate the causes of the mucilage problem in Turkish seas and to determine measures to be taken has been published in the Official Gazette.

Turkey's president chaired a meeting late on June 10 at the Presidential Complex in the capital discussing solutions to the mucilage problem in the Sea of Marmara. 

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said authorities have intensified inspections at all sewage and solid waste facilities while examining developments at sea.

Turkey launched a massive cleanup campaign in 15 districts of seven provinces along the coast of the Marmara Sea on June 8 in an effort to eliminate the aggravating mucilage problem that has severely affected the marine ecosystem.

The massive marine mucilage bloom that has threatened the undersea life of the Marmara Sea is now spreading and taking the Black Sea under its grip.

Turkey on June 8 will start a huge cleanup campaign to save the Sea of Marmara from excessive algae, according to the Environment and Urbanization Ministry.

Teams from Turkey's Environment and Urbanization Ministry on June 6 started work clearing the Sea of Marmara of mucilage.

Turkey will overcome the problem of mucilage formation in its waters, especially in the Sea of Marmara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 5.

"We'll save our seas, especially the Sea of Marmara, from this mucilage problem," Erdoğan said at a mass opening ceremony on the occasion of World Environment Day in Istanbul.

The massive marine mucilage bloom that has been killing the undersea life of the Maramara Sea might also bring the end of the Black Sea, an expert warned while briefing the Turkish Parliament Global Climate Change Research Commission on June 3.

Marine mucilage that has invaded Turkey's Marmara Sea continues to be a grave threat despite comprehensive cleaning efforts, threatening the fishing industry and marine biome considerably, according to the latest exploration studies carried out on the surface and bottom of the sea by an expert.