Free Republic

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to save the country's shores from "sea snot" building up in its waters. A thick, slimy layer of the mucus-like matter is spreading along the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul, damaging marine life and the fishing industry. President Erdogan blamed untreated sewage being dumped into the sea, as well as rising temperatures, and urged officials to investigate. "My fear is, if this expands to Black Sea... the trouble will be enormous. We need to take this step without delay," he said. Boats travelling through the Sea of Marmara have to navigate the grey...

Beware of the blob—this time, it's for real. As sea temperatures have risen in recent decades, enormous sheets of a mucus-like material have begun forming more often, oozing into new regions, and lasting longer, a new Mediterranean Sea study says. Up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) long, the mucilages appear naturally, usually near Mediterranean coasts in summer. The season's warm weather makes seawater more stable, which facilitates the bonding of the organic matter that makes up the blobs. Now, due to warmer temperatures, the mucilages are forming in winter too—and lasting for months. Until now, the light-brown "mucus" was seen...