Ports, coasts and parts of seawater are covered with the viscous, grayish substance. In some cases, the sea snout has also sunk down, suffocating life at the bottom of the inland sea.
Pollution and warming
The naturally occurring slime was first identified in Turkey in 2007.
But this outbreak is the largest on record and is attributed by scientists to a combination of pollution and global warming, which is accelerating the growth of algae responsible for the slimy sludge.
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Control plan
Turkey’s Environment Minister, Murat Kurum, announced today that a plan is in place to combat the sea slush. The exact details of the plan are still unknown. President Tayyip Erdogan blames the outbreak on polluted water from cities, including Istanbul, and vowed to “cleanse our seas of the slime plague.”
Fishermen and local residents are trying to remove the seawater with nets, so far without success. Biology professor Muharrem Balci of the University of Istanbul says that both chemical and biological means must be used to remove the mucus.
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