LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Black Sea: Action Plan
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The Black Sea environment does not come to a sudden stop where the waves break on the shore. The Sea has a profound influence on the ecology of the land near the coast and its use by humans. Human use has a profound influence on the ecology of the nearshore sea. The municipalities along the Black Sea coast, together constituting the coastal zone, therefore have a very special role in protecting the sea. The future of many populations of plants and animals, as well as the welfare of human communities, depends on wise decision-making.
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The Black Sea is a very fertile with small marine animals such as plankton. It is fertile because it has two esential nutrients for marine plants and animals. They are phosphorus and nitrates.
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Oil pollution continues to threaten Black Sea coastal ecosystems. Currently levels of oil pollution are not high in the open Black Sea but are unacceptable in many coastal areas and river mouths. Oil enters the environment as a result of accidental and operational discharges from vessels, as well as through land based sources (see Box 3 for additional information). According to Black Sea scientists, every year about 30,000 tons of oil enters the sea from domestic sewage plants, 15,500 tons from industry (including the oil industry), and 53,000 tons flows down the Danube River. The total annual discharge, some 98,500 tons, represents a wastage of nearly 15 million dollars at current world prices to which should be added the environmental damage which has not yet been quantified! Of course, recovery of the wasted oil is not feasible; the discharge of this quantity to the environment should be prevented.
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Recently, German scientists have discovered corals made by micro-organisms processing methane and sulphates in total darkness at the bottom of the Black Sea. These corals are now believed to be the world's oldest life form. Traditional views of early life on earth have centred on plants which began converting carbon dioxide into oxygen some three billion years ago. The newly discovered organisms live on methane and are thought to have originated four billion years ago. The German scientists believe they could prove useful in ridding the earth of excess methane, the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.
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British company Melrose Resources announced on January 21 that it plans to start extracting gas from a Black Sea field off Bulgaria by mid 2009, Associated Press said. The announcement followed a successful exploration project. A company media statement said the exploration well was near the Galata gas field. "Due to the high quality of the reservoir, flow testing was not required and the well has been suspended for use as a production well," the media statement said.
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Markey joined the expedition to chronicle the search for evidence of human habitation in the preflood landscape of the Black Sea. Finding any signs of human occupation was a long shot for the team, which had planned to devote just two weeks to the search.
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