In early July, Àlex Bartolí and Hettie Brown embarked on a trip to Türkiye as part of the Shark Trust’s Mediterranean Programme angel shark conservation work, funded by Shark Conservation Fund. The project spans work with partners in Tunisia, Cyprus and Türkiye; for this trip, they met with local colleagues to further investigate a potentially important area for angel sharks.

Àlex and Hettie flew into Türkiye with a brief stop in the megalopolis of Istanbul, before moving down to the Dardanelles Strait (where the Sea of Marmara joins the Aegean Sea) to Çanakkale, known for its proximity to the ancient city of Troy. For the rest of their time there, they were based out of Eceabat, a small fishing village situated in the Gallipoli Peninsula. The aim of their trip was to work with project partners to see how to better support existing work in the region, understand the fisheries there, their interactions with angel sharks, and also the confirm the existence of a possible hotspot for angel sharks in the Dardanelles Strait.

They found that all the fishers there were very willing to discuss issues, and although language was, at times, a challenge, thanks to local partners they managed to gain important insights about the situation; with bycatch events confirming the presence of one of the three Mediterranean species of angel sharks, as well as other elasmobranch species.

Despite the ongoing deterioration of the Sea of Marmara and its natural resources, we believe that this is a valuable area for angel sharks. Further investigation into this area is essential to consolidate knowledge and provide a clear pathway towards the effective conservation of these species.

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Images by Àlex Bartolí