Turkey collects over 6,150 cubic meters of mucilage from sea

Turkish sea cleaning teams have collected a total of 6,159 cubic meters (217,503 cubic feet) of mucilage from the Sea of Marmara over the past 16 days, said the country's environment and urbanization minister on Thursday.

Updating on the efforts to clear out the mucilage, also known as sea snot, Murat Kurum said Turkey has been fighting with mucilage in 360 areas.

Noting that the collected mucilage has been sent for disposal, Kurum said, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Tekirdag, Balikesir, Canakkale and Yalova are among the provinces where most of the mucilage has been cleared out.

Turkey has so far completed 6,148 inspections and 20 businesses have been barred from operating over violations of law, he said, adding an administrative fine of 13.89 million ($1.6 million) Turkish liras has also been imposed.

Mucilage is an overgrowth of microscopic algae called phytoplankton caused by rising seawater temperatures due to global warming, stagnant water, and pollution.

This year, mucilage or sea snot was detected in January and then intensified and expanded in April, resulting in a serious problem contrary to previous examples, which usually disappeared in a month or 45 days.

As it continued to increase in its intensity in May and June, the Turkish authorities announced a comprehensive action plan to clean up the Sea of Marmara on June 6.