The mucilage nightmare returns: This time in Büyükçekmece...
Following a warning from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, a citizen diving with a speargun for recreational purposes in Kumburgaz, Büyükçekmece, recorded mucilage at a depth of 1.5 meters underwater with an underwater camera.
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Cafer Cantürk, a resident of Büyükçekmece, went diving in the sea off Kumburgaz for recreational purposes on the morning of January 1st. About 1.5 meters below the surface where he dove, Cantürk encountered a scene of mucilage, also known as sea snot. The images of the mucilage, which was dense in some areas, were recorded by Cantürk with an underwater camera. The footage brought to mind the distressing scenes that occurred in many parts of the Sea of Marmara in previous years. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change issued a warning yesterday to a total of 7 provinces, including Istanbul, which have coastlines on the Sea of Marmara, regarding mucilage, emphasizing the necessity of putting advanced treatment facilities into operation as soon as possible to prevent the recurrence of this environmental disaster.
"I REALIZED THERE WAS A LARGE AMOUNT OF MUCILAGE"
Citizen Cafer Cantürk, who recorded the images of the mucilage on the seabed, spoke as follows:
“I came here on the morning of January 1st to hunt. When I first entered the sea, I noticed a layer on the bottom; at first, I perceived it as a layer of algae, but as I moved forward, I began to think that the situation in the water was on a very different scale. Honestly, I did not encounter a very pleasant sight. I realized there was a large amount of mucilage. I had not encountered this sight before. Those who have dived here before had said that there was not this much mucilage during these seasons. Apart from the mucilage, there was not much pollution in the depths, but this is something that emerges due to that pollution. It arises from issues like wastewater being discharged into the deep sea. Experts have been voicing these concerns for years. I was truly very saddened. There is nothing on the surface, but this resembles the scene we encountered in previous years. It forms at the bottom of the sea; we only see the dead remains that rise to the surface after it dies at the bottom of the sea.”