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Scientists Search for New Species along Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

Society » ENVIRONMENT | May 25, 2010, Tuesday // 19:15

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Bulgaria: Scientists Search for New Species along Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

Scientists expect to find new biological species along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. Photo by BGNES

A team of 18 scientists from 5 countries has set off on a research expedition along the Bulgarian coast of the Black Sea.

The expedition, which started on Tuesday, is using the ship of the Oceanology Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences stationed in Bulgaria’s largest sea port Varna. It is funding with EUR 1.7 M by a European Commission project.

“A total of 2 300 species of animals are known to inhabit the land and water around the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. We hope to find many new species during the expedition thanks to the new research methods that we will employ,” explained Vasil Golemanski, Director of the Zoology Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The nine foreign scientists participating in three-day sea expedition aimed at exploring the biodiversity of the Black Sea are led by Fabrice Not, head of the sea biology station at Roscoff, France.

The EU project funding the research expedition also includes funding for the opening of a microbiology laboratory at the Oceanology Institute in Varna, which will be the first of its type in Bulgaria.

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