March 3rd, 2022 - The turtles are being looked after at the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre on Lošinj

The mighty bura wind is known to sow chaos on the Croatian coast, but not often do we hear about it leaving several confused visitors washed ashore.

In the last few days, strong north-eastern wind blew with a strength of over 30 knots on Lošinj island. Locals spotted a large loggerhead turtle stranded in the port of Veli Lošinj town, and informed the Blue World Institute of the sighting.

Two younger and smaller turtles were also spotted floating in the port as the first one was being rescued by the institute employees. All three were admitted to the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre on Lošinj and were provided with the necessary care, announced the Blue World Institute.

Adverse weather conditions interrupted their hibernation process, and as they were stunned by the cold, the turtles were not able to dive and ended up disoriented in the port of Veli Lošinj.

The three turtles have been named Bura, Veli and Saturn, and are now being looked after at the rescue centre. Once the sea temperature has risen sufficiently, they'll be released back into the sea.

Photos: Blue World Institute / Sara Širola

October 7, 2021 -  A female Lošinj dolphin mourning the loss of her offspring saw scientists visibly heartbroken and showed once again that animals have feelings which run just as deep as our own.

The clear and beautiful waters of the Croatian Adriatic bring a lot of joy and relaxation to people from all over the world, either by jumping and swimming in the soft waters in the hot summer months or by simply observing and breathing in the healthy air either from deck or land on less sunny days.

However, like any other place, the Adriatic can be a place of tragedy and sad scenes, whether for humans or animals that call this Mediterranean ''alley'' their home. The waters surrounding beautiful Lošinj island was sadly the location of a sad tale.

As was reported on Wednesday by Croatian RadioTelevision (HRT), the Blue World Institute from the small town of Veli Lošinj, recorded a female Lošinj dolphin mourning the  tragicloss of her calf. The calf sadly died and the mother used her nose to keep the baby on the surface of the sea, swimming with the deceased calf for hours.

This recording of dolphins in the Croatian Adriatic acting this way showcased just how much love, empathy, and emotions they possess.

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''These are the first recorded cases even though the research here has been being conducted for over 35 years,'' said Tihana Vučur Blazinić from the Blue World Institute for HRT.

The touching scenes disrupted scientific procedures which decided to only record the incident and not take the calf's body to try to determine the precise cause of death of the unfortunate baby dolphin.

However, since they saw these touching scenes in person, it's hard to blame them for not removing the corpse from the female Lošinj dolphin who was visibly distressed, especially when other dolphins joined the mourning mother.

''At one moment, you had a feeling as they were swimming so close, as if to hug and comfort her, like they're supporting her in these difficult times. The mother, however, regardless of other adults animals approaching, didn't want to leave her baby,'' they told HRT from the Blue World Institute.

With the stork Klepetan mourning the death of his love Malena, the heart-breaking grief of this female Lošinj dolphin is proof that animals have very deep emotions and are much more like humans than we might think. These sad scenes offer another argument that should warn the public that the preservation of biodiversity is a must.

For more about animals in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

A group of bottlenose dolphins joined Jadrolinija on their way to Vis. 

April 28, 2018 - The Blue World Institute came out with a new batch of photos featuring the friendliest residents of the Adriatic

Some friendly faces and familiar fins have been spotted near the island of SIlba

More than 5.000 specimens of the endangered species fall victim to fishing tools in the Adriatic each year

Blue World Insitute posted a video of two whales spotted near Lošinj on their Facebook page.