Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Georgios Amiras is conducting a check on Lemnos to receive detailed information from scientists and local authorities about the phenomenon of “sea slime” (sea snot) that appeared on the island’s beaches last Thursday.
Mr. Amiras, accompanied by the Secretary General for Environment and Water Resources Konstantinos Arabosis, traveled to the coastal areas of the island and boarded a fishing boat, from where he oversaw the sampling process by divers of the Fisheries Research Institute of Lemnos, where one of the largest underwater meadows in the Mediterranean was located. sea to capture possible impacts on the marine ecosystem.
He said:
“We are already working in coordination with the officials of the Ministry of Shipping and Coast Guard, and we have ready-made action plans for any possible development of this phenomenon in order to protect the marine ecosystem of the North Aegean Sea, tourism and fishing by all means.”
For his part, the Secretary General for Environment and Water said:
“We fully coordinate our actions with scientific organizations and analyze scientific data using modern technological means in order to determine the qualitative composition and distribution of the phenomenon in time, and take the necessary measures to solve it.”
INALE Research Director Sotiris Orfanidis assured:
“According to our underwater research and measurements, the algae meadow is in very good condition.”
According to RIS, the extensive sampling was carried out by RES environmental inspectors who, with the assistance of the Coast Guard, traveled to the beaches of Riha Nera, Plati, Thanos, Eugatis, Plaka, Mudros, Mudros, Avlonas, Nea Gianni, checking the quality of the bathing water. All samples will be sent to Democritos, the National Center for Habitats and Wetlands (EKBY), and the AUTh Department of Biology Marine Toxic Microalgae Laboratory for the necessary scientific analyzes.
In parallel with the use of satellite data and aerial photographs obtained from unmanned aircraft systems, the scientific group of the Department of Oceanography and Marine Life Sciences of the Aegean University, under the leadership of Professor Konstantinos Topuzelis, collected data on the waters of the southeast. (ELKETHE).
The Deputy Minister was informed by the Governor of Lemnos, Angelos Vlatas, the Mayor of Lemnos, Dimitris Marinakis and professional fishermen about the scale of the phenomenon. He assured them that RIS, in cooperation with the Ministry of Shipping, had prepared an action plan.
The results of the analyzes are expected in the next 24 hours to determine if and to what extent the eutrophication phenomenon observed in the Lemnos Sea is related to the planktonic slime that occurs in the Sea of Marmara.
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