Happy Earth Day!
Hello!
I am a kayak, my name is Blondie. I work as a sea kayak tour guide and I take care of the environment. My mission is to preserve the underwater world of the northern Adriatic Sea. I encounter various challenges every day, and to you I bring a few underwater stories.
My home is Istria, more precisely, I live in the Valovine Bay in Pula. This bay is home to many plant and animal species, and until recently, noble pen shell also lived on its sandy bottom. These largest shellfish in the Adriatic captivated the eyes of all swimmers and divers. People used to eat and gather them because of their size, later they became protected. Due to the influence of man and nature, most importantly because of the rise in sea temperatures, noble pen shells were attacked by a parasite. Today, there are only about a dozen individuals left in the entire Adriatic. Fortunately, Aquarium Pula is the only institution in Croatia that protects them, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for their recovery.
DID YOU KNOW?
The noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis) plays an important role in the ecosystem, it is the natural filtrate of the sea. 2000 liters of water pass through one noble pen shell every day, which is the amount of water an average adult consumes in two weeks. Noble pen shells produce red teardrop-shaped pearls. These pearls were once used to make buttons on European courts.
I meet friends at work almost every day. They tell me about their adventures. The other day, Posidonia, a seagrass responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, was very sad. A chartered ship had torn off several of its sprouts with its anchor. She was worried that in the future she would go completely bald and as such would no longer be able to provide a home for the surviving pen shells or the tiny long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus). I saw him in the spring while he was courting and dancing his enchanting dance. That’s why I noticed him, otherwise he blends in with his surroundings to hide from cormorants and unwanted glances.
DID YOU KNOW?
Seagrass has antibacterial properties and is an indicator of the cleanliness of the sea. One square meter of Mediterranean tapeweed (Posidonia oceanica) produces 14 liters of oxygen per day, about the same amount that an adult at rest breathes in one hour.
Seahorses are the most affected by human impact. They are hunted for private aquariums and trophies.
My friend Pino, an European shag (Gulosus aristotelis) from the family of cormorants, told me about an encounter with a school of tuna. While he was fishing for his breakfast at a depth of 20 meters, a school of tuna swam above him. They swam through hundreds of small fish and created water whirlpools. They would often throw themselves on the surface of the sea. The tuna complained to him that their latest catch was full of pieces of fishing nets and plastic. Several of the tuna had stomach aches, but they still couldn’t get rid of the plastic. Pino offered to help them by collecting this waste to build their nest high on the cliffs by the sea.
DID YOU KNOW?
Every year, 10,000 tons of plastic enter the Adriatic Sea, which is approximately the weight of 1,000 elephants.
The European shag, also known as common shag, is a very skilled swimmer and diver. Sometimes during hunting, it can dive to a depth of more than 50 meters.
A loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) named Greta had a similar experience, and she recently asked me for help. A piece of plastic got stuck around her neck, it looked like a necklace. After a while, it became increasingly difficult for her to swallow, but I helped her just in time! I cut the plastic ring and threw it in the plastic bin. After that, she was able to eat without any problems. She loves fish, sea urchins and jellyfish the most, so I brought her one barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) as a real treat.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are about 20,000 sea turtles living in the Adriatic, and every year over 3,000 end up in fishing nets. There is a sea turtle rehabilitation centre in Pula. The loggerhead turtle breeds once every four years. On this occasion, about 300 eggs are hatched, of which only 1% survive.
Sometimes I take a short dive into the sea with my tour guests and thank the sea cucumbers on the sandy-rocky seabed. There are as many as 36 species of them in the Adriatic that work as cleaners of the seabed. Among other things, they look after protected sea urchins, starfish, various types of crabs, algae, corals and sponges. Sometimes you can also find some friends that moved in from other distant seas. Brought by large ships and their ballast water, the freshwater springs in the sea around Pula have been populated by the Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). I saw one damaging fishing nets with its powerful pincers and eating farmed shellfish.
DID YOU KNOW?
The invasive species blue crab eats everything, so it poses a major threat to the ecosystem of the Northern Adriatic. Its only natural enemy is man.
In the area of Cape Kamenjak, I talked to the sea elders about the fishing. The centenarian date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) were enjoying the currents of the sea when a noise was heard. Irresponsible divers were breaking the seabed with hammers to pull out these 10-centimeter-long shellfish with tweezers. Once again, I was in the right place at the right time. I managed to scare off the divers and save these strictly protected friends.
DID YOU KNOW?
Date mussels live in rock, which they dissolve by releasing acid, creating space for themselves to grow. It takes them as long as 10 years to reach a length of 1 centimeter!
I love the sea very much and try to do as much good as I can to preserve it.
Here are a few things you can do to help and encourage your friends to do the same.
- Respect marine animals and don’t take them out to show others.
- Use your own reusable drinking bottle instead of a regular plastic bottle.
- Take everything you bring to the beach with you and throw your trash in the bin.
- Eat fresh fish from the Adriatic Sea bought from a local fisherman.
- Participate in swimming, diving and paddling in the sea with people who care for it.
- Use a reef-safe sunscreen or wear clothing with UV protection.
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