September the 24th, 2022 - There are a surprising number of sharks living in the Croatian Adriatic Sea, and while they don't bother people, the occasional sighting for a lucky few is always an incredible experience, especially if it's captured on video.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, although the main summer tourist season has now ended, the news that there are a large number of marine predators living quite peacefully in the vicinity caused a wave of disbelief among tourists in Croatia, as Metropolitan writes, as reported by City magazine.

Dozens of different species of sharks live in the Croatian Adriatic, going about their daily business and bothering nobody, despite the sheer amount of people in the sea during the hot summer months. Research by a Croatian-Slovenian team showed that more than half of these sharks are unfortunately at risk. They are mainly threatened by fishing, as they often become entangled in nets and die. Although hundreds of sharks can be found in Croatian Adriatic, they are very rarely seen because they usually stay away from crowded beaches and human activity. However, a group of sharks has been spending time near Split's largest beach over more recent weeks.

"There's a group of sharks here that came here to mate, and we estimate that there were between 200 and 300 of them here in August," Croatian researcher and lecturer Alen Soldo explained to Dnevnik.hr, adding that people rarely notice them because they usually swim in deeper waters and keep themselves to themselves.

Most of them are harmless species of sharks reaching about a metre and a half in size only. Soldo explained that from time to time, more dangerous species of sharks do enter  and spend periods of time living in Croatian waters, but, according to him, this is quite rare.

The last fatal shark attack to take place in Croatia was recorded back during the seventies in Lokva Rogoznica. Soldo believes that the person who tragically lost their life was attacked by a large Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias). 

Fourteen years ago in Croatia, Slovenian national Damijan Pesko was also attacked by a shark, but he luckily survived. In conversation with Metropolitan, he said that Professor Soldo analysed the teeth of the shark, and it was likely one which weighed in at around one tonne.

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ZAGREB, 27 March 2022 - Three years ago, shoppers at the fish market at Zagreb's Dolac open-air farmers market noticed a baby Angelshark, which made conservations both excited and worried.

The Angelshark is one of the calmest and most endangered shark species, considered to be nearly extinct in the Adriatic.

The juvenile Angelshark at Zagreb's Dolac market "indicated that there exists a breeding population", however, it was worrying that "an endangered and strictly protected species was offered for sale," said Pero Ugarković, an associate on a research project on Angelsharks in the Adriatic.

After that discovery, a research was launched to establish how many Angelsharks currently live in the Adriatic.

The project was headed by the WWF Adria non-profit organisation, in cooperation with the Split-based Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries.

Its results show that the Angelshark population, once inhabiting the whole of the Adriatic, has shrunk dramatically and now mostly inhabits the area around the island of Molat in the Zadar archipelago.

Minding its own business

The Angelshark resembles the skate and is a master of camouflage. It buries itself in sediment and ambushes its prey, and can grow to be more than a metre and a half long. It lives in the Mediterranean and East Atlantic but is critically endangered in all of its habitats.

More than 30 shark species have so far been recorded in the Adriatic, and almost all are innocuous to humans. The size of the Angelshark population in the Adriatic was once significant, with fishermen even using nets designed specifically for Angelsharks.

This has not been the case for decades now, and footage of Angelsharks being caught accidentally and returned to the sea, occasionally posted on social networks, gives rise to hope that the Angelshark will survive.

The species grows slowly, reaches reproductive age late in life and has a small litter, therefore making it very vulnerable to fishing pressures. On top of that, it inhabits shallow coastal waters where fishing is very intense. After it was declared a protected species, the Angelshark went from being a target species, to a bycatch.

Patrik Krstinić, an associate for sea and marine biodiversity protection at WWF Adria, warns that fishing with trawl nets and gillnets poses the biggest threat to the Angelshark. He believes that the Angelshark is unlikely to survive with the existing pressure of fishing in Croatia's coastal area.

Krstinić says that maritime spatial planning is necessary and that currently 30% of the sea should be put under protection until 2030, of which 10% should be strictly protected, with no fishing activity allowed, citing that the Jabuka Pit as a good example.

Deficient legal regulations are the problem, he says, noting that they make it possible for an area to be put under protection, yet some are allowed to fish in it.

Krstinić notes that the silver lining in this situation is that without human influences in an area, its biodiversity can be restored very quickly.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

June 11, 2021 - Despite not being a very frequent occurrence, sharks have several reasons for appearing just off Croatian shores. Contrary to what many may believe, there is no reason to fear the sighting of this two-metre blue shark in Korcula, nor is it a concern to see any others, according to marine biologists.

The people of Korcula were surprised to see a two-metre shark swimming off the shores of Kneze on Korcula. The viviparous animal was photographed and, despite belonging to a species popularly feared around the world, there is no reason to be scared, as marine biologists made sure to point out. It was a blue shark, and they very rarely attack humans, reported likemetkovic.hr.

It may be easier for people to deal with sharks if they know that the probability of being attacked by them is one in 11 million.

The blue shark in Korcula fidgeted and wagged his tail as it approached the shore. Despite this not being a frequent occurrence, blue sharks have reached the shores before and, unfortunately, many people still fear an attack or hostility from them.

Photos: Franka Oreb (video screenshots from Twitter)

''They rarely come to the shoreline, but there are a few reasons for them to swim into the shallows. One is to feed, the other to get clean from parasites. Also, it should be borne in mind that this is the time when they reproduce and get closer to the coast,'' Petar Kruzic, a marine biologist, told RTL.

Shark fins were also seen circling around on Vis last April. And while a blue shark attracted by the blood of a fish can accidentally attack, it remains very unlikely.

Kruzic explained that the modrulj (blue shark in Croatia) belongs to the more dangerous species, and it very rarely attacks humans. They are dangerous when there are more of them, in a school of about five or six individuals.

"Like this, one or two of them will usually swim quickly from a human", he adds. So there is no reason to fear the blue shark in Korcula, or any other.

About 50 species of sharks are present in the Adriatic sea, and blue sharks usually feed on plankton, fish, seabirds, and crabs.For more, follow our lifestyle section.

Are there sharks in Croatia? Yes, of course. Sharks are present in the Croatian Adriatic whether we like to think about them as we dip our feet in it during sweltering summer days or not. The species found there usually pose no threat to humans and tend to keep themselves to themselves, avoiding any kind of contact with us. 

From time to time, however, sharks in Croatia do appear, either on camera delighting those filming and taking photos such as the Mako shark who became a sort of celebrity this past summer, or accidentally turning up stuck in fishermen's nets dotted along the Croatian coast.

As Morski writes on the 9th of December, 2019, Dalmatian fishermen were shocked to find a large Bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus) stuck in their net. The fisherman from Trogir, Marko Šola, recorded this latest footage of a shark in Croatia and commented with his colleague that the animal weighed at least 700-800 kilograms. The shark was caught near Rogoznica, but was soon returned back to the sea safe and sound.

An expert opinion was given to Dalmacija Danas today by the experienced Pero Ugarković, an associate of the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries and editor of the popular Facebook page Podvodni.hr.

''They're not dangerous, this is a deep-sea species. They rarely appear in shallow waters, mostly at night. Sometimes there are encounters with divers, several of which were recorded in the Adriatic, the last time being in Kvarner.

These are generally smaller because they avoid the light when they're maturing. This species lives in all of the world's seas. In the Mediterranean, as well as in Croatia, it is occasionally caught by nets by accident. The shark from the video footage was returned to the sea shortly after recording it, which is a legal obligation for fishermen. This one in the video weighs about half a tonne,'' Ugarkovic stated.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more on sharks in Croatia.

June the 12th, 2019 - Sharks are truly stunning creatures and a chance to see one for ourselves is a rare and amazing opportunity. While some still aren't over Jaws and the somewhat over the top message it sent out, many people have managed to get over Quint's premature and very bloody death at the hands of an obviously mechanical Great White shark and move on with their lives, even daring to swim where we can't see the seabed.

Two pieces of footage of a beautiful Mako shark have surfaced over the last few days, one video was taken by a German tourist sailing with his family near Makarska, and the other was taken by a Croat accompanying tourists on a boat in the Korčula channel.

Both pieces of video footage from Dalmatia are of a Mako shark. These sharks do live in the Croatian Adriatic, as do other types, but it's rare that we get the chance to get up close and personal, much less take relatively clear video footage of them going about their days. Mako sharks, much like the majority of other sharks, prefer to stay well out of the way of humans, avoiding potential meetings and opting instead to hunt for food. 

The Mako shark lives primarily on fish, such as tuna and swordfish, but it will also tackle sea turtles and even sea birds should the opportunity arise. It is classed as a dangerous shark, but Mako sharks are aloof, and attacks on humans are incredibly rare.

As Morski writes on the 12th of June, 2019, experts from the Split Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries commented on the recent video footage of the Mako sharks in the Adriatic. They confirmed the claims made by Pero Ugarković, who first revealed that the shark in question is indeed a Mako shark.

The experts stated, among other facts about Mako sharks having become a bit of a rarity in the Croatian Adriatic, that this is a threatened and protected species, and stressed that there is no need to panic. Although there are cases of human attacks carried out by this species, they are extremely rare, and in the last 120 years, only 10 have been recorded worldwide.

If you happen to be sailing in Dalmatia, keep your eyes peeled and your cameras ready! Make sure to send us any footage of any Mako sharks you see.

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We recently reported on the footage a German tourist sailing with his family near Makarska was lucky enough to capture of a large Mako shark doing his (or her) rounds on the lookout for lunch. 

While these sharks do exist in the Croatian Adriatic, they tend to stay out of the way of us and do their own thing in peace, with a large part of their day taken up looking for food. It's rare to be able to get up close and personal, much less capture such clear video footage of them cruising along effortlessly.

The shark in the German tourists' footage is a Mako shark, and a large example of its species. Mako sharks usually eat fish like tuna, mackerel and swordfish, but may take a ''swipe'' at sea turtles, porpoises and even birds should they get the chance to do so. Mako sharks are very fast swimmers and can pose a threat to humans, but their interaction with us, and their desire for it, is minimal. 

Another Mako shark has made an appearance for the camera, this time for some tourists in the Korčula channel.

As Morski writes on the 11th of June, 2019, just two days after a Mako shark ''posed'' for the camera of a German tourist sailing near Makarska, Toni Kačić managed to get a new recording of a Mako shark when out with a group of tourists, but this time the shark showed up in the Korčula channel.

The video was released by Podvodni.hr, whose expert Pero Ugarković confirmed two days ago that the shark in the video is definitely a Mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), and not some other species.

''Once again, we'd like to emphasise the fact that there is no cause for panic,'' writes Podvodni.hr.

Video owner: Toni Kacic / Source: Podvodni.hr

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