Development and testing of a prototype indicator-based tool for identification of potential problem areas for marine litter in Europe's seas

We demonstrate a prototype multi-metric indicator-based assessment tool (i.e. Marine Litter Assessment Tool - MALT) for mapping and identification of ‘problem areas’ and ‘non-problem areas’ regarding the occurrence of marine litter in Europe's seas. The study is based on a European-wide data set consisting of three marine litter indicators: (1) litter at the seafloor, (2) beach litter and (3) floating micro-litter. This publicly available data allowed litter status to be determined in 1,957,081 km2 (19.1 %) of the total area of Europe's seas (10,243,474 km2). Of the area assessed, 25.8 % (505,030 km2) was found to be ‘non-problem areas’ whilst ‘problem areas’ accounted for 74.2 % (1,452,051 km2). This indicates that marine litter is a large-scale problem in Europe's seas.publishedVersio

Using an in-situ infra-red camera system for sea turtle hatchling emergence monitoring

We tested for the first time the efficiency of the use of infra-red (IR) cameras for sea turtle hatchling monitoring. The cameras were installed on one green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and four loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nests during 2014 and 2015 nesting season in the south-east Mediterranean, Turkey. The camera monitoring, even with the limited sample size, have successfully corroborated the previous observations and provided further insights on hatchling emergence behavior. The analysis of the camera recordings revealed that hatchlings emerged from the nests asynchronously in varying numbers of groups and different group sizes, while c. 60% hatchlings emerged during the first 5 days of emergence activity. 98.6% of hatchlings emerged at night with a peak activity between 21:00 and 00:00. The day of first emergence varied between 38 and 64 days since egg deposition, while the day of last emergence varied only between 60 and 65 days. Total emergence activity continued up to maximum of 22 days, which is longer than that of previous records. Overall, the present study showed that IR camera monitoring is a promising tool for sea turtle monitoring and can provide detailed insights on sea turtle hatchling behavior

Composition of eggs and larvae of fish and macrogelatinius zooplankton in Sinop Region (The Central Black Sea) during 2002

Bu araştırmada 2002 yılında Orta Karadeniz'in Sinop Bölgesi'ndeki makrojelimsi organizma {Aurelia aurita, Pleurobranchia pileus, Mnemiopsis leidyi ve Beroe ovata) türleri ile balık yumurta ve larvalarının bolluğu ve dağılımının tespit edilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bunun için bölgede seçilen 3 istasyonda, dikey ve yatay olarak plankton çekimleri yapılmıştır. Araştırmada ktenoforiardan Mnemiopsis leidyi Ocak-Eylül, Seroe ovata Ağustos-Aralık periyotlarında görülebilmiştir. Aurelia aurita ve Pleurobranchia pileus türleri ise 2002 yılında geniş dağılım göstermişlerdir. İhtiyoplankton örneklerinden toplam 857 adet yumurta ve 150 adet larva toplanmış olup 8 familyaya ait 8 tür tayin edilmiştir. Toplam yumurtanın %77.7'sini Sprattus sprattus phalericus, %10'unu Engraulis encrasicolus ponticus ve %10'unu da Mullus barbatus türüne ait yumurtalar oluşturmuştur. Toplam larvanın %51'ini S. s. phalericus, %15'ini Blennidae familyası ve %13'ünü de E. e. ponticus türleri oluşturmuştur. İhtiyoplankton tür sayısı ve bolluğu 1999-2000 yılından daha düşük bulunmuştur. Sıcaklık değerlerinin yükseldiği dönemlerde jelimsi organizma ile balık yumurta ve larva miktarlarının arttığı belirlenmiştir. Kısa süreli örneklemelerde (bir yıl boyunca) jelimsi organizmalarla balık yumurta ve larvaları arasındaki net bir ilişki bulunamamıştır (p0.05).This study was carried out in order to determine abundance and distribution of macrogelatinous organisms (Aurelia aurita, Pleurobranchia pileus, Mnemiopsis leidyi ve Seroe ovata) with respect to fish egg and larvae in Sinop region in 2002. Three stations were selected this region and plankton tows were made both verticallly and horizontally. In study the ctenophores M. leidyi between January and September, and B.ovata between August and December period were appeared. The cnidarian Aurelia aurita and the ctenophore Pleurobranchia pileus showed a wider distribution in 2002. A total of 857 eggs and 150 larvae were collected from ichthyoplankton samples and 8 species belonging to 8 families were identified. Most of ichthyoplankton included Sprattus sprattus phalericus 77.7%, Engraulis encrasicolus ponf/cus10% and Mullus barbatus 10% of total eggs, S. s. phalericus 51%, Blennidae family 15% and £ e. ponticus 13% of total larvae. The abundance and species number of ichthyoplankton were lower in the present study than found in 1999-2000. Overall in the warm period, the abundance of both macrogelatinous organisms and fish egg and larvae were found to increases. No correlations were found between macrogelatinous organisms and fish egg and larvae in this relatively short sampling (during a year) period (p>0.05)