'Existence of dolphins and whales in Turkey is under threat'

Photo: Dolphins on the Bosphorous (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Pollution and overhunting in İstanbul and Çanakkale straits and the Marmara Sea threaten the existence of dolphin and whale species.

The number of dolphins and whales in this basin was not known until three years ago as clearly as today.

Arda Tonay, an academician at İstanbul University and also the Vice President of the Turkish Sea Research Foundation (TÜDAV) reported on their current populations in this basin, and the risks they face.

Tonay explains that scientifically they distinguish whales and dolphins as toothed and non-toothed and that they named all "cetaceans."

Eleven species in Turkey

There are a total of eight cetacea species in Turkey, the fin whale, the cachalot whale, the bottlenose whale, the grampus, the bottlehead, the striped dolphin, the common dolphin, and the puffing pig, Tonay said.

"Three additional cetacea species visiting the Turkish seas have been recorded so far in addition to these, the minke whale, the false killer whale, and the humpback dolphin. So we can talk about the existence of 11 species in the seas of Turkey," Tonay added, speaking to Anadolu Agency.

Photo: AA

Tonay explained to the agency that they have counted the number of whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean in 2018, and in the Black Sea in 2019 with eight planes, six ships and 100 scientists from 26 countries in the scope of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) Survey Initiative (ASI). He added that the developments are good for very few of them, and they could not give good news for most of them.

Puffing pigs die in deep-sea fishing nets

The Vice President of TÜDAV gave detailed information on the populations of the species and the risks they face.

"The adult population of fin whales which are the largest whales in the Mediterranean and the second largest in the world is a thousand and 700 and the species risks extinction. The population of bottlenose whales in the Mediterranean, a number of which washed up dead on the shore in Cyprus in recent weeks, is 6 thousand and is on the decline. The population of the smallest in this basin, the puffing pig in the Black Sea, mostly 1.5 meters in length, is estimated to be around 100-250 thousand.

"Two thousand puffing pigs die only in the West Black Sea coast of Turkey in a year. It is estimated that 12 to 16 thousand die in the whole of the Black Sea. This is the number that dies in relation to the deep fishing nets. The puffing pigs, unfortunately, die in deep sea fishing nets in the whole world." (TY/PE)