THE NATIONAL JELLYFISH AND GELATINOUS ORGANISM WATCH PROGRAMME – YAYAKARSA.ORG

Dear Sea Lovers / Marine Enthusiasts,

In recent years, there has been an increase in jellyfish blooms in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea due to the changes in climate and food chains. Furthermore, new alien jellyfishes, like “Lessepsian species” that entered our seas via the Suez Canal cause serious and ongoing problems in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. These jellyfishes and gelatinous organisms clog fishing nets, damaging our fisheries sector. On the other hand, some venomous species may be a nuisance to bathers and may become a real health hazard for babies and elderly individuals. This has a negative impact on tourism. Thousands of people in Europe and in our country are hospitalized due to jellyfish sting in recent years. Therefore, our foundation has started a new programme to learn about and understand abnormal jellyfish blooms, outbreaks and their negative impacts on our coasts, moving the subject to a scientific platform and to guiding the decision-makers. This programme is also in coordination with CIESM Jellywatch Programme and data on the Turkish coasts is collected by our foundation. The gathered information will be published in scientific journals with the cooperation of amateur and professional scientists. The obtained data will be used with the permissions of data collectors.

Essentially, this is a project well adapted to our country, called “Citizen Science” in European countries, which aims to collect data for social benefits via an easy and inexpensive way. A photograph of jellyfish or another organism you photographed with your mobile phone could be common and unimportant for you but it may have an important scientific meaning for oceanographers and marine biologists. Therefore, your support to our project contributes to the accumulation of knowledge of marine species in our country, the understanding of the effects of alien species and in brief, social benefits. You can help us by checking the species information on the project website (www.yayakarsa.org) or the poster of jellyfish and other gelatinous organisms. Please send your photos and descriptions to our e-mail ( ; or fill the form on our website yayakarsa.org

Thanks in advance for your help and please don’t forget, comments without scientific knowledge lack validity. Knowledge benefits and finds its place in society by producing and sharing.

yayakarsa.org