“Excitement in a holiday paradise. A video allegedly shows two sharks just a few metres from the beach in Vodice, Croatia. They could be blue sharks,” was the headline in the Kleine Zeitung newspaper a few days ago, adding that “conspicuous fins” had caused a stir among beachgoers in Croatia. But what is the truth of the report? And – are there actually sharks on the Croatian coast?
A few days ago, there was a great deal of excitement in and around Vodice in Croatia, wrote the Kleine Zeitung: a shark sighting is said to have taken place on the beach of the coastal town in Šibenik-Knin County in central Dalmatia – in the middle of the holiday season, when thousands of Austrian holidaymakers would also be making a pilgrimage to the region.
The stumbling block is a video that was published on TikTok. It shows conspicuous dorsal fins protruding from the water. “But were they really sharks causing a ruckus in this holiday paradise?” asks the Kleine Zeitung. Official confirmation from the authorities is still pending, and the incident is the subject of heated debate in the Croatian media.
@naaanshaaa Baby shark in vodice😶🫣 #shark#vodice#croatia#babyshark#swim#sibenik#dalmatiancoast #fyp #modrulj#dalmatia#hrvatska #vodice ♬ original sound – naaanshaaa
On a local internet platform, it is suspected that two young blue sharks may have been involved
On the local internet platform sibenski.slobodnadalmacija.hr, it is suspected that two young blue sharks may have been involved. But – are there even sharks in Croatia? Yes, writes focus.de: there are indeed sharks in Croatia, including dangerous species. However, the locals have “hardly noticed any attacks” in recent years.
Croatia is located on the Adriatic. This is not the hunting ground that great white sharks, for example, would love as a dangerous shark species. Once a shark appears, it usually disappears again after a few days. However, it could well happen that you come across a basking shark in Croatian waters.
Apart from a fright, however, humans would not suffer anything, because: “Basking sharks feed on plankton and have no interest in humans. Smaller sharks would sometimes stray into bathing bays, but they would be afraid of humans and would flee before coming into contact.
Much more dangerous or poisonous animals in Croatia that people should be wary of include the black widow, moray eels and stingrays, the petermale and various types of jellyfish, warns focus.de.
There are around 30 species of shark in the Adriatic. Many of them are rather small and unspectacular
So is this a false alarm about sharks in the Adriatic? Not quite, as Ulrike Kirsch from the Marine Conservation Foundation writes in a recently updated article. There are around 30 shark species in the Adriatic. Many of them are small and unspectacular. However, the “two big ones” are probably the most impressive: Great white sharks and basking sharks. But for them, as for some of the other larger species, “they have become rare”.
In the Mediterranean, the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), a harmless filter-feeder, is frequently sighted, especially in spring in the north-west, writes Ulrike Kirsch; and in Sardinia, the animals, which can be up to 12 metres long and weigh between one and five tonnes, are even regular seasonal visitors.
They have also been seen in the northern Adriatic. As recently as mid-March 2024, a basking shark around eight metres long was spotted in the Gulf of Trieste between Santa Croce and Marina di Aurisina, as reported by the Italian Miramare Biosphere Reserve. There were further documented sightings at the end of February 2023 off Pula in Istria, and in March 2022 and 2021 a basking shark was spotted in Kvarner Bay.
The report goes on to say that it is doubtful whether the sensational media reports in the summer slump (see above) are actually always about a great white shark in the Adriatic: Confusion with shortfin mako or porbeagle sharks is possible. However, this cannot be ruled out. In October 2017, for example, a great white shark was actually spotted off Rimini, as a video clearly proves.
Biologists suspect that the Adriatic Sea is a nursery for great white sharks. The same applies to blue sharks
In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, great white sharks were relatively common in the coastal waters of the eastern Adriatic, but with the decline of their main prey, tuna, they “more or less” disappeared. However, biologists suspect that the Adriatic is a nursery for this shark species. The species is generally considered to be threatened with extinction in the Mediterranean and endangered worldwide.
Other shark species found in the Adriatic include the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). However, the shortfin makos, which are four metres long and weigh up to 500 kilograms, are not common in the Mediterranean and are only rarely found in the Adriatic. In June 2019, a shortfin mako crossed in front of the city of Makarska. From 2014 to 2017, eight specimens were caught, two of which were on the Italian side.
The article by the Marine Conservation Foundation also comments on the blue sharks (Prionace glauca) allegedly spotted in Vodice a few days ago: this species was once one of the most common shark species in the Adriatic. Today it is threatened with extinction. However, there is said to be a nursery in the northern Adriatic – so it is quite possible that these could actually have been (young) blue sharks.
The blue shark is strictly protected in Croatia and is an important target fish species in the Mediterranean
The last time there were (confirmed) sightings close to shore was in May 2022 off the island of Žirje. in May 2020 off Soverato, Italy, and in April 2020 in the harbour of the Croatian town of Crkvenica. While the blue sharks with their streamlined body and white underside, which average three metres in size and weigh 180 kilograms, are strictly protected in Croatia, they are an important target fish species in the Mediterranean. In addition, blue sharks often die as by-catch in fisheries.
The DSM brochure “Threatened biodiversity in the Adriatic: marine mammals, sharks, sea turtles and other fascinating marine animals” provides information about other sharks in the Adriatic. It presents 32 marine animals from the Adriatic Sea, from large to small, and includes brief portraits of other, rarer shark species. Shark expert Andrej Gajić describes a total of 31 shark species in his comprehensive work1 on sharks and rays in the eastern Adriatic.
According to the WWF in its 2019 shark report for the Mediterranean (Sharks in Crisis – A call to action for the Mediterranean), sharks are now in a poor state throughout the Mediterranean. More than half of the 73 species currently found there are endangered.
Overfishing poses by far the greatest threat to sharks and rays
Overfishing poses by far the greatest threat to sharks and rays, concludes the report by the Marine Conservation Foundation. 80 per cent of the stocks recorded in the Mediterranean are considered to be overfished. This is not only because they are caught deliberately, but often also because they die as by-catch or discards.
Anyone who spots a shark should enjoy the sight of these elegant sea creatures, which have become rare, instead of panicking. And you should report the fascinating apex predators of the underwater world. There is a (public) Facebook group “Shark sightings Mediterranean/Sharks of the Mediterranean“.
Anyone who (improbably) encounters a great white shark while swimming, snorkelling, diving or SUPing in the Mediterranean should avoid the shark feedings described in our news article to avoid accidents.
