the Hellespont was named after a girl named Helle. The Hellespont connects the Aegean Sea in the southwest to the Sea of Marmora and Black Sea in the northeast, and has always been regarded as the boundary between Europe in the northwest and Asia to the southeast. It is about 65 km long.

The Dardanelles is the narrow strait that lies between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The strait is 61 kilometres long and a strong surface current flows in the direction of the Aegean, which is echoed by an undercurrent flowing toward the Sea of Marmara.

northwestern Turkey

The Turkish Straits (Turkish: Türk Boğazları) are two internationally significant waterways in northwestern Turkey. The straits create a series of international passages that connect the Aegean and Mediterranean seas to the Black Sea. They consist of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus.

Bosporus

Because sharks are uncommon along the Turkish coast, a shark sighting would create a lot of excitement. The Coast Guard, Harbours Master, and boat captains would quickly alert others in the area, warning them to stay safe while near the sharks’ swimming area.

ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency Health authorities have declared 81 beaches in Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul safe and hygienic for swimming. The Provincial Health Directorate declared the beaches suitable for swimming after analyzing samples of sea water taken.

Turkey’s Most Dangerous Animals

• Snakes. There are around 45 species of snakes in Turkey, and of these around 10 are poisonous.
• Spiders.
• Scorpions.
• Centipedes.
• Mosquitoes.
• Jellyfish.
• Are There Bears in Turkey?

There have been very few shark attacks reported in Turkey, despite the millions of tourists visiting every year.

According to the results of two recent studies (Kabasakal, 2014; Kabasakal & Kabasakal, 2015), 47 great white sharks were recorded in waters of Turkey between 1881 and 2014.

Common thresher shark, blue shark, bluntnose sixgill shark and shortfin mako are the most observed species in Adriatic and Ionian seas, respectively.

Recent studies showed that the fish fauna of the Sea of Marmara comprises 235 species, 13 of which are shark species, with the confirmed contemporary occurrences of sharks representing 5.53% of the total ichthyofauna.

The iconic Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim is back in 2021, bigger and better than ever. Join more than 2,400 competitors from across the globe as swimmers take over the Bosphorus waters and one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world is temporarily closed to traffic.

There are some sharks in the Aegean Sea, but very few. For some reason, most of the Mediterranean’s shark attacks have been around the French coast, not in the Aegean Sea itself. Since then, great white sharks have been decreasing in numbers and are extremely rare due to years of being hunted by humans.

Are there great white sharks in the Mediterranean? Yes. Little is known about them, but they have probably been there for a very long time.

Is it safe to swim in the Mediterranean Sea? Generally speaking – yes! The Mediterranean Sea is actually up there with the safest seas in the world.

Although these formidable creatures certainly do strike fear into the hearts of some divers, you should know that, in the Mediterranean Sea, there have only been a total of 31 attacks against people over the last 200 years, and most of those attacks did not result in fatalities.