Climate change is apparently taking a different direction as far as the seas surrounding Greece are concerned, at least temporarily, with the water temperatures at a 20-year low.
Since a brief spring-time heat wave in the third week of May, the medium temperatures subsequently fell by as much 5C.
Specifically, the water temperature in the southeast Aegean (Dodecanese islands) and Libya Sea (south of Crete) reached 25C on May 20, only to fall to 20 to 21C some 10 days later.
The biggest dips in water temperatures was recorded south of Crete, Rhodes, as well as in the Ionian Sea, off the western Peloponnese.
According to meteorologists, the temperatures are 1 to 2C lower than the average for the specific season, and comprise the most significant deviation in the past 20 years.
The national observatory in Athens issued its explanation, pointing to extreme weather conditions in the spring, i.e. a brief heat wave preceded and following by unseasonably cold weather.
