Mert Gökalp, who is a marine biologist, film director, writer and researcher, does not only creates a unique guide to the city's fish in his latest book, Marine Species of Istanbul, but also traces Istanbul's relationship with the sea for millennia, going back to the Antiquity.

 

 

Mert Gökalp completes Turkey's fish inventory with his third book, Marine Species of Istanbul, published by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Publications. This study, which is the continuation of Guidebook for Marine Species of Turkey published in 2012 and Marine Species of Mediterranean Sea published this year, brings together 331 species of underwater creatures from 13 different groups, such as fish, cartilaginous, algae and sponges in the seas of Istanbul. In the book, well-known species such as bluefish and horse mackerel are accompanied by rare fish such as rabbitfish, cownose ray and sprat fish. All of these species are documented in more than 500 photographs, which are the product of more than 250 dives made on the Black Sea, European and Anatolian coasts of Istanbul, the Bosphorus, the Princes' Islands, the Gulf of Izmit, the South Marmara Sea and the shores of the Dardanelles Strait.

 

 

Marine Species of Istanbul is more than just a comprehensive guidebook. The book is almost a history of Istanbul written through the eyes of the ecosystem. Going back to Aristotle and Strabo in the chapter "Istanbul's Nine Thousand Years of Fish History" Gökalp dives into the roots of the city's maritime culture and reveals how important fishing was in the economy of the settlers at that time.

 

 

One of the surprises of the book is that it hosts Karekin Deveciyan, the first ichthyologist of Turkey. Deveciyan, who had worked as Kumkapı Market Manager nearly 100 years ago, is still regarded as one of the author of the most significant works of his field today. Gökalp succeeds in reconnecting Istanbul's fish culture with tradition by bringing Deveciyan and his work into his book. In doing so, he underlines that everything has changed and that we can no longer live like we did in those days when fish were plentiful.

 

 

Gökalp is not just a writer, filmmaker and researcher. As an activist fighting for the protection of sea creatures, his perspective is felt in every line of the book. He draws attention to the fact that if measures are not taken soon for the Black Sea and Marmara, which are under pressure with the climate crisis, global temperature increase, invasive creatures, human-induced pollution, industrial and agricultural wastes, these seas will slip out of our hands. He warns that "Istanbul will not be Istanbul without sea creatures".

 

Mert Gökalp has always asked the same question throughout his life. Now, with the occasion of Marine Species of Istanbul, he address the same question to us: Where should we humans be in nature?

 

 

Photographs: Mert Gökalp

Respectively: Squid, Seahorse, Red Sea Goat Fish (Parupeneus Forsskali), Red Gurnard, Grouper