Aquatic ecology

On Thursday and Friday at Lavrio in Attica, 27 partners, including some leading European universities, will be presenting the HYDROUSA project, which is getting off the drawing board and into the field this month.

The Mediterranean Sea is quickly turning into a dangerous "plastic trap" with record levels of pollution from micro- and macro-plastics threatening marine species and human health, according to a new report by conservation group WWF.

The European Court of Justice has fined Greece 5 million euros with an additional penalty of 3.28 million euros for every six months that it delays payment its failure to comply with waste water treatment regulations in the Thriasio Plain in western Attica.

US scientists have discovered a lake at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, BNT reported. The water in it is about five times saline compared to the surrounding. It also contains poisonous concentrations of methane and hydrogen sulphide and therefore does not mix with the surrounding sea water. If an animal or person enters this pool, toxic chemicals can be deadly.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has announced that lifeguards in its fire brigade department have saved 4,800 people in the province over the course of this summer, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Sept. 20. 

The wife of one of the seven workers who died in the Aegean province of Muğla's Güllük district after being poisoned from methane gas at a wastewater refining facility in 2013 said she turned down 1 million Turkish Liras worth of "blood money" that was offered by the sewage treatment firm in return for her to drop the charges against them. 

The European Commission has sent to Bulgaria and Cyprus a formal warning letter to initiate a criminal procedure for detected deficiencies in the implementation of the requirements of Directive 91/271 on urban wastewater treatment, according to BGNES.

Holidaymakers outside Alexandroupolis in the North of Greece came across a surprise when they encountered a large ray on Tuesday. The enormous fish was found swimming near the coast of the city remaining there for quite a while. It seemd to be enjoying the calm waters.
Let’s note that lately other appearances of skates have been reported in the area.

The waters of Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait will retain their turquoise color, caused by phytoplankton, until the end of June, Professor Bayram Öztürk from Istanbul University has stated.

Öztürk, from the university's aquaculture department, said the phytoplankton will remain prominent until the end of the month under current weather conditions.

Two amateur fishermen released a 30-kilogram fish into the Mediterranean Sea on June 19 in a bid to protect nature, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Cuma Köksal, 36, and İsmail Okatan, 63, caught the 1.5-meter-long leer fish off the Mediterranean province of Antalya's Konyaaltı beach.