HUNTING FOR IMAGES UNDERWATER
On a sunny Aegean morning the sapphire sea was shimmering,
and a gentle offshore breeze carried the scent of distant pine trees.
The sandy beach stretched out lazily, unaware of the bustle that
would begin shortly. As I sipped my tea I let this beautiful scene
soak into me. We were at Karaburun, at the extremity of the peninsula
west of Izmir. As the sun rose higher people wandered by ones and
twos down to the beach, and soon the activity there was the centre
of my attention. The Underwater Image Hunting Competition (SAGAY)
2000 was about to begin. From above the sea appeared crystal clear,
but would the invisible depths be so? That was for the contestants
who would soon begin diving with their cameras to discover.
The growth of diving as a sport and holiday recreation is the best
indicator of just how little Turkey's seas have been affected by
pollution despite population increase and industrialisation. Over
recent years the number of visitors coming to Turkey for the sole
purpose of diving and exploring the underwater world have been increasing
steadily.
 However,
preventing damage to the natural environment is a challenging task.
Illegal and indiscriminate hunting and fishing are causing the rapid
depletion of many species, yet protection of the environment is
as important for human survival as for wildlife. National parks
are one way of doing this. The world's first national park was established
in the United States in the late 19th century, and the concept was
adopted by Turkey as it was by other countries. After a series of
laws passed to preserve wildlife, legislation was put into place
for the establishment of national parks in 1956.
The seas surrounding Turkey are characterised not only by scenic
beauty, but by the submerged buildings and artefacts of ancient
civilisations, and both abundant and diverse species of wildlife.
These factors have led to the idea of establishing marine as well
as land national parks, and the Gökçeada-TÜDAV
Marine Park designed and established by the Turkish Marine Research
Foundation (TÜDAV) in 1999 is a welcome development.
The park at Gökçeada, the largest Turkish
island in the Aegean, aims not only to protect the sea in the area
from pollution and exploitation, but also to educate the general
public. With this object dives are organised to show the beauty
and fascination of marine life.
Another organisation working in this field is the Middle East Technical
University Underwater Association, which was established in 1985
by a group of lecturers and students. The association's aims are
to research, conserve and publicise the natural and cultural features
of Turkey's coasts and coastal waters. Their activities include
basic and advanced diving, exploration and research, locating and
recovering wrecks, and first aid courses.
The association has also established a number of
groups specialising in particular aspects of its work, such as Mediterranean
Seal Research, Wreck Exploration, Cave Research, Photography and
Videography, and Ecology. Among the projects undertaken by the association
are protection of the loggerhead turtles' breeding grounds at Dalyan
near Köycegiz in 1987, the location and study of wrecks dating
from the Ottoman-Russian naval battle in Çesme Bay from 1988
to 1990, the discovery of two 1600 year-old wrecks containing glass
blocks at Antakya on the eastern Mediterranean in 1992, and protection
of the Mediterranean seal launched with the support of the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 1993. The latter project has now been
taken over by the Underwater Research Association (SAD), and the
Aegean resort of Foça continues to be a pilot region for
conservation of the Mediterranean seal and the inshore ecosystem.
Ongoing projects of the association are the Inventory of Sea Caves
on Turkey's Coasts, the Cilicia Region Archaeological Field Surveys,
and Identification of Species on Turkey's Coasts.
The Middle East Technical University Underwater Association organised
the first Underwater Image Hunting Competition on the Aegean island
of Bozcaada in 1992, with the slogan, 'Drop your harpoons and start
hunting images.'
 One
of the association's main objectives is the establishment of marine
national parks, particularly in the northern Aegean region of Turkey.
The photographic competition is more in the nature of a festival
designed to attract public attention to the association's aims.
It has been held at Bozcaada, Gökçeada, Foça,
Ayvalik and Denizköy in previous years, and last year took
place at Karaburun.
This year the association hopes that more people than ever will
attend the annual event, which is open to everyone. Preparations
are ongoing, and the place and date will be announced as soon as
possible. The latest information is available on http://sagay.metu.edu.tr.
So looking forward to seeing you at SAGAY 2001 to capture the beauty
and magic of Turkey's underwater world. l
* Saner Gülsöken is a photographer.
Photos Courtesy of ODTÜ-SAT
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