Kenan Balcı was born in 1956 in the Arpaçay district of northeastern Kars province. His passion for sea and fish never left him alone. Now the room wants to pass on this passion to future generations.

Balcı established the Turkish Sea Creatures Museum, where he exhibits more than 15,000 sea creatures in the Beylikdüzü district of Istanbul, where students show great interest in his works.

Balcı, known as Fisherman Kenan, spent his childhood fishing in a stream with a fishing line he made using his mother’s knitting needle and thread.

Kenan Balcı founded the Turkish Sea Creatures Museum. Photo: AA

“I used to take it without telling my mother. I heated that needle in the shape of a fishing line, and was fishing with the needle and thread,” he said.

“As a 10-year-old child, I could catch 2-3 kilograms (4.4-6.6 pounds) of fish,” Balcı told Anadolu Agency (AA).

His passion for fish started in those early years, and Balcı got acquainted with the sea and the Bosporus in the historic Kadıköy district, where his family first settled in 1969. Insisting on becoming a fisherman despite his family’s objections, Balcı used to run to the shore after school to fish with other fishermen in the historic Kadıköy district, where they first settled.

Thornback ray, Turkish Sea Creatures Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: AA

His mother used to complain every day as his school uniform smelled of fish, he said, “But I still continued to go fishing every day.” He did not want to continue studying after elementary school and wanted to become a fisherman.

After heading his father’s advice and trying jobs in different fields, Balcı was finally able to persuade his family to open a fish store and began to turn his father into a fisherman.

Today, Balcı has a massive collection of mummified sea creatures, which he wants to use to instill a love for the sea and fish in the hearts of the next generation.

“I am 65 years old. I have enough of everything, but not the sea or fish,” Balcı cracked a smile.