After it appeared last year for the first time, notorious marine mucilage, also known as sea snot, has reappeared off the coast of Istanbul this week. Although it is not yet as dense as the thick mucus-like layer in 2021, the mucilage emerged on the city’s Marmara Sea coast, specifically off Tuzla and Kadıköy districts on the Asian side.
Professor Mustafa Sarı, an expert on the phenomenon who serves in the faculty of Maritime Sciences at Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, said that the mucilage appeared "only like a cream," but it proved his earlier projections that it would return to the Marmara in 2022.
The mucilage was originally first sighted off the Maltepe coast of Istanbul in February this year but it was limited to that area. On Monday, it emerged, in a less dense form, at two different spots. “The mucilage exists in different parts of the Marmara. It does not mean that it is not mucilage if it is not like the thick layer we saw last year. It has at least 10 different types. Currently, it sticks to the surface,” he told Demirören News Agency (DHA).
He added that the mucilage has never truly “gone away” but found a place for itself at the bottom. “Mucilage is a consequence. You cannot expect it to disappear entirely without eliminating its causes. One of them is the high seawater temperature and secondly, the Marmara Sea has too many sources of pollution. Finally, the geographical structure of the Marmara Sea contributes to the scope of mucilage,” he said.
