For more than six months now, parts of the Sea of Marmara along Turkey’s coast have been covered in a thick layer of glop known as mucilage, or “sea snot.” Pollution, warmer temperatures, and other environmental factors appear to have resulted in a proliferation of phytoplankton, which are releasing an “overabundance of mucus.” Government workers have been trying to clean up some of the worst-hit areas as biologists and environmentalists have expressed alarm. Below, you’ll find a recent collection of sea-snot images; for the complete story, read “A Slimy Calamity Is Creeping Across the Sea” by our own Sarah Zhang.
Photos: Turkey’s Sea-Snot Disaster
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![Two small boats are piloted through a slimy patch of mucilage on the surface of a harbor.]()
Read moreThis aerial photograph, taken from above the Caddebostan shore of Turkey's Marmara Sea, shows boats moving through a patch of mucilage, or sea snot, on June 8, 2021. #
Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty -
-
![The head of a diver is seen above mucilage-coated water, with some of the sea snot draped over their regulator.]()
Read moreA diver takes part in a cleaning operation to remove marine mucilage at Caddebostan beach, in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 8, 2021. #
Serhat Cagdas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![An aerial view of a ferry moving through broad patches of mucilage]()
Read moreA ferry sails through patches of sea snot off the shore of Istanbul, Turkey, on June 12, 2021. #
Umit Bektas / Reuters -
![A diver is seen in dark green water, with sea snot floating all around.]()
Read moreA diver works underwater amid mucilage in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, on May 16, 2021. #
Sebnem Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A starfish sits on the ocean bottom, coated in mucilage.]()
Read moreMucilage covers a starfish and other sea creatures at a depth of 30 meters off Büyükada, Turkey, on May 16, 2021. #
Sebnem Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![An underwater view of clumps of mucilage]()
Read moreClumps of mucilage, seen underwater in the Sea of Marmara, photographed on June 15, 2021 #
Sebnem Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A wide swath of mucilage fills a small harbor.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of increased mucilage levels near the shoreline of Istanbul on June 15, 2021 #
Muhammed Enes Yildirim / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A worker uses a hose to vacuum up sea snot.]()
Read moreExperts work to clear a mass of marine mucilage from Turkey's Marmara Sea, on the Caddebostan shore, on June 8, 2021. #
Kemal Aslan / AP -
![A boom contains a large amount of mucilage.]()
Read moreMucilage is gathered inside a boom for removal in a shipyard region on the Marmara Ereğlisi coast in Tekirdağ, Turkey, on June 12, 2021. #
Mesut Karaduman / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A worker vacuums mucilage from the sea's surface.]()
Read moreTeams continue the mucilage cleaning process in the Altınova district of Yalova, Turkey, on June 10, 2021. #
Ali Atmaca / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![People wade near the shore among rafts of mucilage.]()
Read moreA view of the sea with people swimming near the Kocaeli shore, east of Istanbul, on June 12, 2021 #
Kemal Aslan / AP -
![Two people pedal a small boat through mucilage, near a beach.]()
Read moreThis aerial photograph taken on June 12, 2021, in the Darıca district of Kocaeli, shows people pedaling a boat through sea snot. #
Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty -
![People work with a conveyor-belt cleaning machine to skim mucilage from a harbor.]()
Read moreMembers of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization cleaning team work to remove sea snot from a harbor in the Marmara Sea on June 10, 2021, in Istanbul. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
-
![A vacuum hose is seen slurping up marine mucilage.]()
Read moreWorkers vacuum sea snot from the Marmara Sea near Istanbul on June 8, 2021. #
Serhat Cagdas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![The waters of a small, protected beach area are covered in sea snot.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of the increased mucilage level near Istanbul, photographed on June 15, 2021 #
Muhammed Enes Yildirim / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Sea snot collects among several boats in a small harbor.]()
Read moreSea snot collects in a small boat harbor in Tekirdağ, Turkey, on June 18, 2021. #
Mesut Karaduman / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A diver swims underwater amid mucilage.]()
Read moreA diver swims amid mucilage in the Sea of Marmara on June 15, 2021. #
Sebnem Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A small dead fish lies on top of a patch of mucilage.]()
Read moreA dead fish is seen atop a patch of mucilage in Çanakkale, Turkey, on June 4, 2021. #
Ali Atmaca / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Swirls of mucilage are seen between two small boats.]()
Read moreSwirls of mucilage are seen between boats anchored along the Caddebostan shore on June 15, 2021. #
Muhammed Enes Yildirim / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![Patches of mucilage stretch great distances from a populated shoreline into a sea.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of mucilage patches floating on the surface of the Marmara Sea in Bursa, Turkey, on June 11, 2021 #
Ali Atmaca / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A person rows a small craft through a large patch of mucilage.]()
Read moreA person rows through sea snot along the Caddebostan shore, in Istanbul, on June 7, 2021. #
Kemal Aslan / AP
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.