Antalya takes underwater ‘X-ray’ to assess marine damage

ANTALYA

Authorities lower an underwater scanning device into the sea off Antalya to assess local marine life and evaluate coastal biodiversity.

Alarm raised by footage exposing a barren seabed off the Mediterranean province of Antalya has pushed local authorities to launch a full survey beneath its famous turquoise waters to map what little marine life remains.

The work is part of the Blue Mediterranean Initiative, launched by the Antalya Governor’s Office at the beginning of the year to protect the sea and coastline and help restore damaged marine habitats. Surveys are underway in Kemer and Kaş, while authorities plan to examine underwater life in Belek, in the Serik district, in the coming period.

Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin told state-run Anadolu Agency the project would track underwater life, identify and map biodiversity and determine how years of damage could be repaired. Divers, biologists and other teams are working in the field with support from public institutions. The study is expected to take three years and could continue longer.

“We watched the camera footage. There is almost no life under the sea; it resembles a desert,” Şahin said, describing the condition of the underwater environment. He said the initiative aims to bring damaged marine life and biodiversity back to their former state.

Prompted by initial survey footage, officials banned fishing around Kemer’s Üç Adalar so divers and biologists could safely examine the area’s marine biodiversity. Şahin noted local authorities partnered with the Istanbul-based Marine Life Conservation Association to replicate their Tavşan Island protection model in Antalya, starting with the fishing ban.

In Kaş, teams from the Mediterranean Fisheries Research, Production and Training Institute are working to protect seagrass meadows and develop artificial reefs. Planned work includes ecological restoration, mapping and regular monitoring of seagrass, alongside the placement of artificial reefs to create new breeding grounds for marine life.

Akdeniz University’s Underwater Research Institute is also working in Kaş. Şahin said researchers were growing seagrass as seedlings before planting them and using thinning methods in areas where the plants grow densely.

Şahin said the projects were intended to help marine ecosystems recover without undermining fishing or harming local livelihoods. He pointed to the global pandemic, when people stayed away from the sea for several months, as an example of how quickly marine environments can recover when human pressure eases.

Restored biodiversity could also create new opportunities for diving and other forms of tourism, potentially generating new sources of income, Şahin said. Preparations for the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), which Antalya will host, have also given the initiative added momentum.