As a part of efforts to safeguard microbialites, often known as “underwater fairy chimneys,” buoys have been positioned in Lake Van to guard the distinctive buildings from injury.
Due to a current drought and extreme evaporation, the water degree of Lake Van has receded, inflicting the emergence of those uncommon formations alongside the lake’s coastal areas.
Buoys had been deployed at two areas in Edremit and one every in Reşadiye and Altınsaç throughout the scope of the dialog undertaking initiated with the assist of Van Metropolitan Municipality and Eastern Anatolia Development Agency (DAKA) to protect the microbialites from being broken by boat propellers or friction.
Under the supervision of the Coast Guard Van Lake Group Command and the participation of Van Diving School divers, the municipality supplied the set up of buoys.
Serkan Ök and Furkan Aşga, instructors from the Van Diving School, joined forces with the municipality and DAKA to place the buoys whereas the emergence of the microbialites has been meticulously documented by underwater documentary producer and cinematographer Tahsin Ceylan and his staff.
Ceylan emphasised that microbialites, that are mounds of rock or sedimentary deposits composed of carbonate mud fashioned with the help of microbes, signify an important pure heritage of the world’s largest soda lake.
These formations have been thriving underwater for hundreds of years, however as a result of rising temperatures, international local weather change, water depletion and evaporation, they’ve now surfaced, with recent water flowing by way of them.
“This is a tragic example. To protect the natural heritage of Lake Van from damage caused by boat propellers or friction, buoys have been placed near the microbialites,” Ceylan defined.
“Those who go diving to explore the microbialites will now have the opportunity to tie their ropes to the buoys without dropping anchor. We had the chance to witness and capture the work done on-site,” he stated.
“Lake Van is one of our greatest treasures. We are doing conservation activities to leave it cleaner for future generations,” Mehmet Fatih Çelikel, the secretary-general of Van Metropolitan Municipality, stated.
Çelikel additionally talked about that they’d beforehand cleaned the lake’s sediment and stated: “At the same time, we are marking the locations of our microbialites, also known as fairy chimneys. This is the first project of its kind in our area. We believe this work is significant in preventing them from being damaged, determining their locations and increasing their visibility. We carried out this project in collaboration with DAKA. We thank everyone who contributed.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
