About three-quarters of Earth's surface is covered with water. These waters are home to millions of living species and make a great contribution to biodiversity.

In addition to making a great contribution to climate-friendly clean energy production, they also provide us with 16% of all animal protein used in the world through fish.

Likewise, the oceans and seas are an effective sink for carbon dioxide, one of the important greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Therefore, the seas and oceans function as a kind of life support unit for living beings.

The world's seas and oceans are also affected by the problems caused by human activities that try to predominate nature instead of being a part of it.

According to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) 2020 Global Climate Outlook Report, effects such as record-breaking temperatures in recent years and carbon dioxide concentration, which increased by 50% compared to the preindustrial period, also increase acidification in the seas.

Besides, another danger that awaits the waters is pollution. According to the 2021 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2021), 80% of the wastewater generated on a global basis is discharged into water resources without treatment.

Most of the untreated domestic and industrial wastewater, which is released into waterways such as streams and rivers, eventually reaches the seas. The organic and chemical waste loads they carry pose a serious threat to the seas.

Turkey, which is surrounded by seas on three sides, is also suffering from such problems. With the algae explosions, the number of which has increased rapidly in recent years, the current problem is "sea snot," or mucilage.

The phytoplankton data

Turkey's seas in its "Blue Homeland" also contain innumerable living species. One of these living groups is the phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton are at the bottom of the food pyramid of submarine life. Like plants on land, they are autotrophic creatures that produce their own food by photosynthesis utilizing solar energy and give oxygen to the environment.

Therefore, phytoplankton can be referred to as the trees of underwater life. According to scientists, these organisms are responsible for almost half of the world's oxygen production.

An environmental disaster

Just as the excess of everything is harmful, the overgrowth of phytoplankton also creates some problems. The algal blooms seen in the Marmara Sea, especially the Golden Horn, in recent months are one of these events.

Another problem is mucilage, which is perhaps one of the biggest environmental disasters in recent Turkish history. Of course, some environmental factors must have contributed to this situation.

The main factors are temperature and nutrient availability. If there is light, warmth and food, it means there is a suitable environment for reproduction.

The nutrient used in overgrowth is essentially nitrogen and phosphorus-containing pollution. When there is more food in the environment, more plankton is needed to consume it. Hence, overgrowth occurs. When the food runs out, the phytoplankton die. The phenomenon called algae explosion is exactly this in a simple sense.

In mucilage, the situation is somewhat different. Mucilage is a secretion produced by phytoplankton in response to stress in the environment as a result of overgrowth. The process can be called natural, while what is unnatural is the dense formation.

The stagnation in the waters and the extinction of an intermediate species that feed on phytoplankton in the lowest layer of the food chain, unable to adapt to the new conditions caused by overfishing or global climate change, will disrupt the continuity in the food chain, and this may also have affected overgrowth.

Many disadvantages

Mucilage is the mucus secreted by almost all plants, so it is harmless. However, they do offer a suitable breeding ground for pathogens. This structure is formed when other living things such as bacteria and viruses multiply in these areas.

They rise to the surface as a result of the low density of the dead ones due to air bubbles entering them. By forming a layer on the sea's surface, they prevent both sight, smell and light penetration into the sea and pose a risk to living creatures.

Again, mucilage, the density of which increases as a result of the trapping of heavy metals or suspended solids in the sea, causes a lot of harm to marine life, such as sinking to the bottom and covering the seagrass and creatures that live in the seagrass, such as mussel and oyster, causing them to die over time.

This sticky and contagious secretion also harms fish larvae. Therefore, it affects the food supply chains by causing a decrease in fishing activities.

The dead layer on the surface is usually dragged to the coast by wind and wave action, preventing tourism activities by restricting the use of beaches. Likewise, the formations that continue both on the surface and in the sea can also disrupt ship transportation.

In this respect, it should be considered not only in terms of the environment but also as a problem affecting development.

Other examples

It is possible to talk about the existence of mucilage at every point where the conditions we mentioned are evident.