The latest deaths of inexperienced sea turtles, a local to the Marmara Sea, alongside the coast of Türkiye’s northwestern province of Kocaeli has impressed a push to formally label the endangered species protected within the nation.
One moderately massive turtle, weighing round 100 kilograms (220 kilos), washed up on the shore within the Başiskele district of Kocaeli, garnering the eye of the residents and biologists within the same-named province. The distressed creature died quickly after being found onshore by folks close by. Biologists consider its demise was attributable to being hit by a ship.
Professor Halim Aytekin Ergül from Kocaeli’s University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology Lecturer stated: “They are having difficulties because they cannot find a natural habitat for themselves. Although they are found in the fauna of the Marmara Sea, we see that their numbers have decreased a lot, and they need to be protected.”
Citizens who got here throughout the beached turtle knowledgeable the municipality crew, however it died earlier than the municipal crews arrived.
“The tortoise, whose photos we saw, washed up on the shore and then unfortunately died. It is probably the Chelonia Mydas species, whose natural habitat is the Marmara Sea. These should be protected species, their populations are not very high,” Ergül defined.
“Healthy conditions must be provided in the ecosystem for their protection and life to be sustainable,” he added.
“This is actually our duty. In particular, we must allow space for these animals to access sand beaches; however, approximately only 3% of the area in the Gulf of Izmit has remained untouched. Almost all the other coastal areas are filled with ports or various harbors, piers and breakwaters. Therefore, development has mostly destroyed the natural habitats of these creatures,” he underscored.
Reiterating that the variety of sea turtles has decreased, Ergül identified the opposite components that have an effect on the difference of the turtles, together with salinity and the ocean temperature.
“They are cold-blooded organisms. Therefore, the conditions of the environment they are in are important to them. They look for suitable habitats. Environments with seagrass meadows are important for their nutrition,” the professor famous.
He additionally famous that research on the species discovered within the Marmara had been carried out and are included within the literature, but he harassed that the variety of research must be elevated.
“A study on the population and abundance of these animals should be conducted. In this regard, we need to take action and formulate a plan,” Ergül underscored.
Furthermore, Ergül famous that the coastal settlements pose a threat for these organisms, including that wastewater is one other vital subject. “Dirty water from houses, factories and agricultural activity can be even more dangerous, especially in semi-enclosed ecosystems such as the Marmara Sea,” he stated, including that it’s folks’s obligation to guard our future in addition to the way forward for different organisms we’ve to reside with.
Cüneyt Özer, secretary basic of the Kocaeli Chamber of Veterinarians, stated that inexperienced sea turtles, although discovered within the Marmara, are species which can be extra appropriate for residing within the Mediterranean and that the circumstances within the Marmara are restricted for them.
“When we look at the environmental factors and climate change, global climate differences naturally disrupt the physiology of animals. The salinity of the sea in the Mediterranean region and the salinity of the Marmara Sea differ by 10 degrees. There is a 4-degree difference in sea temperature,” he concluded.
The vary of inexperienced sea turtles extends all through tropical and subtropical seas worldwide, with two distinct populations within the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They are additionally discovered within the Indian Ocean.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
