Marine biologists are not celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal, which took place this week. That’s because the engineering of the waterway – built to allow ships to move from East to West – has had a dramatically negative impact on life in the Mediterranean Sea.
The canal connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
“There are now more than 1,000 alien species in the Mediterranean Sea,” says Alan Deidun, a lecturer of Geosciences at the University of Malta, as well as Ocean Ambassador for Malta.
The professor believes it will not be long before deadly invasive marine life, such as lionfish and toxic jellyfish, become the norm off the islands’ coast.
The situation got even worse since 2015, when Egypt opened what’s been dubbed ‘The New Suez Canal’ to double its capacity for traffic. At the time, the move sparked criticism from various countries in the Mediterranean basin – especially neighbouring Israel – where toxic jellyfish have damaged power plants and scared off beachgoers and tourists.
Several other venomous species have established permanent colonies. And the risk to Malta is getting higher by the year.
“No one is saying we should shut down the Suez Canal, but it has hugely effected the entire region. This canal was constructed differently from the Panama Canal, for example, in that it doesn’t have locks which control the level of the water and stop marine life from getting through,” Prof. Deidun said.
“We’ve also noticed an increase in the sheer volume of marine life making it to the Mediterranean. Many species have learned to ‘hitch a ride’ on the ships or travel in the belly of the tankers which contain water, and despite regulations to stop this, it hasn’t been enough.”
Prof. Deidun says while many invasive species do not manage to gain a foothold in the Mediterranean, the ones that do can cause a huge socio and economic imbalance, just like in the case of Israel.
And change has already begun.
“When it comes to certain jellyfish, we’ve seen blooms which are much more pronounced in terms of how big they are and how long they last,” he said.
“True, not every year is the same, but things are definitely different.
“We know that lionfish were first spotted in Israel, then Turkey and more recently off Greece, so I have no doubt we will see them in Malta’s waters in the not too distant future,” he added.
In fact, the marine biologist and his fellow conservationists are launching the second year of their ‘Spot the Alien Fish’ campaign to try and get more eyeballs on the sea and control any problems before they start.
“I want a lionfish for my research work, so I’m offering an underwater camera or a cash prize to the first one who brings me one,” Prof Deidun promised.