As Morski writes on the 11th of November, 2019, the beautiful Mljet National Park, Croatia's first protected marine area celebrates its 59th birthday today.

NP Mljet, located not too far from Dubrovnik in southern Dalmatia, was founded on November the 11th, 1960, and its special status of protection can be greatly contributed to the distinguished Croatian scientist and academic Branimir Gušić.

Mljet National Park covers almost 5,300 hectares, including a sea belt 500 metres from the coast, as well as numerous islets and rocks. This much loved national park contains an array of interesting areas and boasts a unique and truly stunning land (and sea) scape. With its submerged bays, the Small (Malo jezero) and Great (Veliko jezero) lakes, are undoubtedly among the most prominent and heavily frequented locations in this area and an important geomorphological and oceanographic phenomenon.

The entire surface of the national park is extremely rich in life, and the importance of its protection has been evidenced repeatedly with the presence of numerous endemic and endangered species. The island also offers an abundance of numerous archeological sites and ancestral heritage, the remnants of the old Roman palace in Polače, and a benedictine monastery situated in one of the most gorgeous locations in Croatia and the immediate region - the islet of St. Mary (Sv. Marija) in the Great lake.

The celebration of the park's 59th birthday initially began back in October with the Mljet Outdoor Festival and Open Doors Day, as well as with the presentation of autochthonous vine varieties that grow on Mljet and the opening of an exhibition on caves on Mljet.

To continue marking the birthday of this Dalmatian national park, an exhibition of underwater photographs of the island of Mljet and a lecture titled "Secrets of the Underwater of the Island of Mljet" are planned at the S. S. Kranjčević Library in Zagreb on Monday the 25th of November, 2019, at 18:30.

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As Morski writes on the 27th of October, 2019, on the occasion of marking its 59th birthday and the end of the traditional summer tourist season, on Saturday the 26th of October, the gorgeous Mljet National Park marked its Open Day.

For the last time this year, the Eclipse Wing catamaran sailed into the port of Pomena on the island of Mljet, which definitely got into the good books of Mljet's residents this year after having provided free tickets to the islanders. In addition to the neighbouring islanders from Korčula and Hvar, a little sightseeing was also undertaken by a few residents of Dubrovnik-Neretva County over on the mainland, who came by ferry from Prapratno-Sobra.

On this occasion, all visitors to this incredible national park, of which there were well over 200, were given a free tour of the oldest marine protected area. Accompanied by experienced and learned guides who work at Mljet National Park, the visitors toured the main attractions of the park, the Great Lake and the Small Lake, and were then transported to the island of St. Mary which is home to a fascinating Benedictine monastery from the twelfth century.

A group of mountaineers from Korčula also set out on a hiking trail to Montokuc, a beautiful vantage point overlooking Mljet's stunning lakes.

Visitors who were eager for some recreation spent their time cycling around the salt lakes and other numerous picturesque trails at a great price for the rent of bikes. Some people stayed to swim in the Small Lake because the calm but bright autumn weather, with rays that still pack some heat down in southern Dalmatia, was ideal for all kinds of activities. The youngest participant at the event was a one and a half month old baby.

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Mljet has been given the responsibility of caring for Dubrovnik-Neretva County's very first firefighting boat, which has been procured thanks to EU funds.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of March, 2019, Dubrovnik-Neretva County prefect Nikola Dobroslavić handed over the first firefighting vessel in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Dubrovnik's port on Friday. The vessel is named Sveti Florijan, named after the patron saint of Linz.

The vessel was handed over by the prefect to the mayor of Mljet, Đivo Marketa, who immediately presented and subsequently handed it over to commander of Mljet's fire brigade, to Mario Dabelić.

Prefect Nikola Dobroslavić stressed that this is an excellent example of good use of the money made available to Croatia from European Union funds.

''The ship is largely financed by EU funds through a project conducted by Dubrovnik-Neretva County. This is the first firefighting boat in our county, and JVP Mljet (Mljet fire brigade) will be responsible for it, but of course it will be available to the whole of this southern area. Another firefighting vessel is coming to the City of Dubrovnik soon and this is a significant addition to the safety and the possibility of interventions being made at sea. This ship will be used for firefighting on boats, as well as in some other emergency situations,'' stated Dobroslavić, among other things.

Sveti Florijan is the first firefighter in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, otherwise Croatia's southernmost county, area acquired by the southern Dalmatian county as part of the scope of the European project AdriaMORE, which is otherwise one of the projects currently being implemented by the Interreg Croatia-Italy cross-border program.

The project activities of Dubrovnik-Neretva County are worth around 350,000 kuna, of which 85 percent are being co-financed with the very welcome funds of the European Regional Development Fund, and the remaining 15 percent are financed by the county's own funds.

A shipbuilding contract, worth about 950,000 kuna, was signed last September with Damor d.o.o., and, as previously mentioned, the new firefighting vessel will be taken care of by Mljet's fire brigade and by Mljet Municipality.

Dubrovnik-Neretva County organised the ceremony as part of the activities on this year's International Civil Protection Day, which was marked on March the 1st.

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Ever been to NP Mljet? Lying not far from Croatia's southernmost city of Dubrovnik, Mljet national park, otherwise Croatia's most heavily forested island and unarguably among the most unusual, is a must visit place for those wanting a sense of peace. Photographers and nature lovers alike are also attracted in their droves to beautiful Mljet.

As Morski writes on the 11th of November, 2018, NP Mljet, the Republic of Croatia's and the Mediterranean's first properly protected marine area, is celebrating ts 58th birthday today! Established on this day back in 1960, NP Mljet has naturally become the target of numerous visitors from across the world who want to experience some of the Adriatic's pure and rich nature. This year also stands out as a record year for the number of visitors to NP Mljet.

In addition to a huge number of visitors, this year is also significant thanks to the arrival of the first of three electric catamarans for the transportation of visitors to NP Mljet's Great lake, and the signing of the Grant Agreement for a project for Mljet worth a massive 36,618,480,26 kuna. These resources will improve and enhance the popular national park's visitor infrastructure, and enrich the quality and quantity of touristic, educational and recreational content on the island.

The birthday celebrations of NP Mljet began back on October the 22nd with the opening of an exhibition of photographs in the Gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. In addition to the exhibition, from October the 24th to the 31st, the Days of Open Doors and a special program for the visiting of NP Mljet for the passengers of the Krilo Star catamaran's final journey for 2018 were held. The celebrations will continue through November when an exhibition on the cultural heritage of NP Mljet opens far from Zagreb, on the island of Mljet itself, all on the occasion of the International Year of Cultural Heritage.

Happy birthday, Mljet National Park!

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It tends to happen at this time of year, at least it has over the last few, as the bura and the jugo winds beat the Dalmatian coast on a regular basis, bringing in all sorts of bizarre things on the strong currents to the Dalmatian coastline. It isn't unusual for innocent citizens simply taking a walk around the shoreline stumble upon rather large quantities of marijuana and other very drowned drugs.

Nobody is ever quite sure where the marijuana has really come from, and the assumption is usually that these illegal packages have simply ''lost their way'' on a journey between either Albania and Montenegro on their way to Italy, but alas, the phenomenon continues to begin to occur around November time.

As Morski writes on the 4th of November, 2018, citizens of Mljet and Orebic reported the rather surprising discovery of as much as 156 kilograms of marijuana floating in the sea. The now very wet packages of marijuana were picked up by the Dubrovnik-Neretva police at Orebić, Blato on Korčula, and on the island of Mljet on the basis of various reports from the residents of the aforementioned areas, both on the Dalmatian mainland and on nearby islands.

As is usually the case with such packages, the general assumption of the police is that the boxes of marijuana were initially on their way from either Albania or Montenegro towards their final destination of Italy, where they fell from their vessel and ended up being swept along to the Croatian coast by the current.

This is otherwise a very common sea route for drug smugglers, and the winds that typically hit the Croatian coast at this time of year can typically end up bringing these lost packages to the Croatian coast, according to a report from Dubrovacki Dnevnik.

An investigation is now being conducted to try to work out exactly where, and from whom, the drugs came from, as has been stated from the competent police administration, who thanked the citizens of the aforementioned locations for alerting them to the drug packages. The police have also asked for anyone else who comes across suspicious packages in the sea or washed up on the shore to alert them.

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Keeping on top of things and putting the environment first isn't always easy in the time in which we currently live, but a beach cleanup is a more than excellent way to start. In Croatia, such seabed and beach cleanup actions take place quite regularly up and down the coast, with the most emphasis being placed on the pre and post season.

During this somewhat turbulent time of year, it's typical for unstable weather conditions and strong winds and currents to wreak havoc to some degree or another, often bringing in unwanted rubbish from other parts of the coast, sometimes even dragging up piles of waste on currents from Albania to Dubrovnik.

Plastic pollution is an increasingly dangerous threat to the world's seas and oceans, and while various laws continue to be passed to either ban or at least limit the use of ''throw away'' plastic products, the issue remains a pressing one. A well organised beach cleanup is an excellent way to combat the problem.

As Morski writes on the 1st of November, 2018, beautiful Mljet has experienced a proverbial reincarnation this year, as 32 volunteers participated in a program to clean up as many as fifteen bays and coves on Mljet, which is otherwise one of the country's most breathtaking national parks, located not too far from Dubrovnik.

This year's volunteer program, developed by JUNP Mljet and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy through the EU Integration Project Natura 2000, was successfully completed, with 71 volunteers participating in all of the four volunteer programs.

For the first time, NP Mljet welcomed international volunteers from Lithuania, Australia, America, and neighbouring Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help clean up the national park's many bays and coves. Over 400 plastic bags, sewage, glass and various other types of waste was successfully removed from Mljet's shoreline.

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Love them or hate them, they're protected in Croatia and everyone needs to do their bit to help them.

It only took three decades, but, better late than never!

April 16, 2018 - TCN continues looking at the best beaches in Croatia. This time here is Top 5 Mljet, the best beaches on Croatia's greenest island.

An unknown culprit decided to dump the entire content of a septic tank into the waters of Mljet National Park