Vesna Bernardic

Premantura (Croatia), 3 mar (EFE).-the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea preserves several oasis of extraordinary biodiversity as the Cape Kamenjak in the extreme south of the peninsula of Istria, despite becoming a very popular tourist destination needed more than one better environmental protection.

On the promontory of Kamenjak, full of beautiful beaches that during the summer are filled with European tourists, is found one of the 10 mammals with a high risk of extinction, the seal (monachus monachus) monk, of the world’s remaining only between 300 and 500 copies.

After centuries of brutal extinction, this peaceful animal, defenseless and loving avoids the presence of homo sapiens, but its presence in the Adriatic has been recorded lately just on Kamenjak, which offers underwater entrance caves.

In the Cape, there are also large numbers of butterflies, insects, amphibians and lizards, birds, orchids and many medicinal plants as Sage, Rosemary, thyme, laurel, Myrtle and Juniper.

Are the fossilized footprints of various dinosaurs, which can be reached by a trail of 360 meters with models of dinosaurs and other creatures of the Jurassic in natural size.

The Cape of Kamenjak in the extreme south of the largest and most northern Croatian peninsula of Istria, has 30 bays and beautiful beaches, including two caves on the sea and 11 not inhabited islet.

“Here come for the third consecutive year.” “The experience of nature is unique, especially in spring,” have told Efe the young Slovenian tourists Mojca and Damir, who toured the area by bicycle.

You can go by car along a road not paved, but the most interesting places you can visit only on foot or by bike.

“We have seen more than 50 species of butterflies daily, large number for a small region of only 375 hectares,” explains biologist Nina Boyce of the “House of nature”, a museum on the biodiversity and its protection in Premantura, near the entrance to the natural protected area of Kamenjak.

“Butterflies are some biomarkers, as its presence, especially some species, requires great green cleaning,” adds.

Among the 198 various known birds, 50 are sedentary and the rest are migratory, as black storks, which here tend to take a short break for tea some lizard or the threatened Green Toad (bufo viridis), while the sedentary skanjac, common buzzard which is often preferred to hunt small mammals.

In the caves of Mala and Velika Kolombarica nest pigeon and the endemic swift, “smedja chiopa”.

Most characteristic plants, in addition to the Sage that covers the entire area, are the orchids, whose different 30 species exist, including two endemic (serapia istriaca and serapia pulae) in spring offer a florida holiday.

The Cape Kamenjak is one of Europe’s richest deposits in fossil rudistas, molluscs that abounded during the Jurassic and became extinct at the same time as the dinosaurs.

In addition to around a dozen dinosaur footprints which can be seen in Kamenjako, in the nearby Fenoliga island or “La Isla de lo dinosaurs” there are 146 footprints fossilized, mostly from sauropods of about 3 meters high and 11 metres in length, that walked on four legs and left oval tracks.

Three-toed footprints were left by theropods, rapacious carnivores who moved on two legs.

At sea is found another animal endangered loggerhead sea turtle (caretta caretta), who can die to swallow objects of plastic tourists thrown into the sea, the bottlenose dolphin (tursiops truncatus), known here as the “good Dolphin”, and between the smaller, seahorses and several other protected species.

A serious problem is the reduction of the oceanic posidonia, essential for the marine ecosystem aquatic plant damaged by trawling and anchors of boats and yachts.

“There are more and more tourists.” The anchors are not regulated, the yacht throw garbage. We are calling for better protection. “There will also be possibly close the entrance for cars and enter tourist trenecillos”, explains Nina.

The best season to visit Kamenjak is between May and June, when the orchids and other plants are in flower, the Sea already invites to bathing and beaches are pristine. EFE

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