Vacuuming up sea snot is 'like sweeping up the sand on the beach'

Photo: AA

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Minister of Environment and Urbanization Murat Kurum has said that some 392 cubic meters of marine mucilage, or "sea snot," was collected from the surface of the Sea of Marmara in two days.

"Our goal in this work is to eliminate problems such as visual pollution and smell and allow the sunlight to pass through to the bottom areas," Kurum told the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), adding that the efforts were "greatly beneficial."

Large chunks of marine mucilage have been observed on the surface of the sea since early May but it started building up in the deep much earlier, according to underwater observations. The Sea of Marmara is an inland sea in northwestern Turkey that links the Black Sea to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

Photo: AA

Cleaning works started on Wednesday (June 8) in 31 areas in eight provinces surrounding the Sea of Marmara (İstanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Yalova ve Tekirdağ), he told the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) yesterday (June 10).

On the first day, 253 cubic meters of mucilage was collected from the sea in 15 areas and on the second day, 391.8 cubic meters were collected from both the land and in the sea in 16 areas, said the minister.

CLICK - Pictures reveal mucilage density in the Sea of Marmara

The cleaning work was carried out with 46 ships, 1,000 personnel and in three locations on the land, Kurum noted.

The ministry also used 27 boats for "setting up barriers," "spreading sorbent," "surface scraping," and "mucilage deposition in offshore spots," he said.

Will it work?

Levent Aryüz, a hydrobiologist who leads the Marmara Environmental Monitoring Project (MAREM), previously told bianet that it was not possible to clean up the sea snot.

"It's all for the sake of appearance. It's no different than sweeping up the sand on the beach with a broom," he said after the ministry announced its action plan to tackle the mucilage problem on June 6.

Marine mucilage is a phenomenon that occurs due to the intense proliferation of a type of sea algae, which is triggered by the excessive amount of nitrogen in the seawater.

A thick layer of mucilage in Mudanya, Bursa. (Photo: Alper Altay)

Scientists point out the government's wastewater policy in the region as one of the main causes of mucilage accumulation. Most of the wastewater of Marmara provinces is discharged into the deep sea only after preliminary treatment, according to a report by environmental engineers.

The wastewater was thought to be flowing towards the Black Sea in the north with a deep current. However, the mayor of Kocaeli admitted at a meeting with mayors and the minister that "We have used Marmara as a cesspool for decades."

(TP/VK)