The Last of the ‘Marble’ Sea

“Life can't be all that bad,” I'd think from time to time. 'Whatever happens, I can always take a long walk along the Bosphorus.” - Orhan Pamuk

This is a little-known fact, but some of my best business deals have involved fish.

I was lucky enough to grow up on the Princes’ Islands in Istanbul, where we would spend our summers as a family. When I was around five, I used to wake up at 4 a.m. in the morning and rush out to the shore. Fishermen would be getting ready to take off, and I’d join them.

Out in the open sea, we would set sails for a huge variety of fish, of the top of my head I can recall at least 20 different valuable species before returning to the islands to sell whatever we had caught.

In the early hours of the day, with a sense of acute responsibility and self-confidence, the five-year-old budding businessman that I was at the time would help the fishermen sell their catch with my innocent childish looks. As payment, they would let me keep some of the fish. I would always choose the best ones.

Thank God, I don’t get paid in fish anymore.

Because if I did, Marmara would no longer be able to sustain me, or the fishermen.

The “dying” marble

The Sea of Marmara is somewhat of a wonder. It’s an inland sea that provides a rich and nutritious ecosystem for its inhabitants, as well as a source of life for those settled around it. It’s also one of the few bodies of water that have witnessed great civilizations grow and prosper, decline, and prosper once again.

The name Marmara comes from the Greek word marmaro for “marble”; with the islands on it constituting rich sources for it.

You wouldn’t think anyone can really kill a sea, but somehow, the Marmara Sea is dying.

Marmara is the most densely populated region in Turkey, and home to 24 million people. There are seven provinces that have coastlines on The Sea of Marmara. The ‘marble’ feeds them, entertains them and is a major oxygen source for the ecosystem. Sadly, due to poor judgement, weak infrastructure, and short-sighted development; it handles their waste in unimaginable quantities. Overfishing and pressure from waste intensified by global warming is destroying—if it has not already done so—a once beautiful, plentiful habitat.

For more than three decades now, Marmara’s health and wellbeing has been on the decline.

The now infamous “sea snot” is not a new phenomenon. The first sightings in Marmara occurred in 2007, in deep waters. Nobody thought of interfering.

Now, in 2021, sea snot covers most of the Marmara’s surface, endangering the life underneath - suffocating the fish and the coral reefs, poisoning the mussels and crabs.

With pollution and heat, certain types of algae in the sea overgrow to dangerous levels, and block out the sun. The one we’re seeing now across the surface of the sea is called phytoplankton, and it feeds on nitrogen and phosphorus, continuously present in Marmara waters due to poor waste management. Phytoplankton, under normal circumstances, work to regulate the waters, and serve the wellbeing of the sea. But when it’s faced with stress, and overgrowing, it releases a mucus-like substance, covering the surface, trapping underwater creatures in a giant furnace, cutting off their oxygen, entangling them and immobilizing them until they die due to disease and starvation. 

As a result, Marmara—home to legends, empires, myths and ideals—is perishing.

It’s a clear sign of the urgency of where we are with the climate crisis and poor municipal judgement, old and new.

The only option

Often when faced with such environmental challenges, we react in two ways: we either accept it and move on, or we start yelling and aimlessly running around.

What we need however is the third and only option: action.

It’s comical to think that cleaning the surface and employing nets can be the solution to such a deep, structural problem. An emergency response was announced by the authorities to clean the snot with manpower and small nets. What we really need is action that will not only remedy the harm, but prevent it from spreading further.

Turkey needs an environmental masterplan with a strong focus on its seas and water sources. Marmara’s only chance to survive relies on avoiding deep sea discharge, establishing a new sewage treatment policy and taking a collective, non-political stance against pollution.

If we continue to ignore the wake-up calls, global warming and increasing waste will only continue to worsen, and Marmara will only be one of the many victims to come. The Mediterranean, Aegean and the Black Sea will be next in line.

We need regulations that will prevent industrial damage and overfishing; as well as stopping household wastewater and agricultural runoff from polluting the sea. A recent study shows that in the last 50 years alone, the Sea of Marmara lost 41 species. And those are the ones we knew to count; the true number is much bigger than this.

We need public awareness campaigns which will turn into rapid action.

Local authorities will have to reimagine the city’s planning with government support, and restructure Istanbul’s waste management in ways least destructive to the natural habitat that surrounds it.

The private sector needs to shift to a more sustainable model of business and embrace purpose before profits. Production, products and services must become greener. Unless we do it all, and do it together, we will not be able to tackle this crisis.

On an individual level, each person needs to educate themselves about the environmental crises, and adapt their behavior accordingly, before another incident like this occurs. If we wait around for disasters to change our perceptions, we will miss the window of opportunity to bring in any meaningful change.  

I’m not a pessimist when it comes to the environment. If we allow her, mother nature has a great capacity to renew herself, to heal, and to repair. But she does need our help.  

The Sea of Marmara needs a lifeline. It will take a long time for it to heal.

Just weeks back, I spotted a pod of baby dolphins swimming in the Bosphorus.

When there is life, there is hope and there is joy.