Study and monitoring of mucilage in the Adriatic Sea

The presence of large mucilaginous masses, referred to as mucilage or with the traditional term "dirty sea", has led to serious problems for the touri sm and fishing industries along the coast of the northern Adriatic Sea. Usi ng a cable-guided telecamera, these masses were observed in situ from the w ater surface along the water column to the sea bottom, with the aim of bett er understanding the appearance of the mucilage, its formation and dispersi on and the processes originated by phytoplankton involved in this phenomeno n. Furthermore, we sought information to help explain the fact that the app earance of mucilage does not tend to lead to anoxia in the surrounding wate r and that the mucilage seemed to contain huge amounts of iron. The chemica l-physical characteristics of mucilage samples and samples of the surroundi ng water were studied. Further studies of their composition were carried ou t to determine the levels of organic matter, organic carbon, carbohydrates and heavy metals.