Fascinating Facts on the Adriatic Sea

  • The Adriatic Sea maximum depth is 1,233 meters
  • The Adriatic Sea has an approximate length of 800 kilometres, an average width of 160 kilometres. It has a surface area of approximately 138,600 square kilometres. The water volume of the Adriatic Sea is about 35,000 cubic kilometres. The maximum depth is 1,233 meters and average depth is 252.5 meters below the sea’s surface. The Adriatic Sea has shore length of about 3,739 kilometres.
  • In the summers we are cooling the Adriatic Sea water for the Boka Aquarium
  • The surface water temperatures generally range from 30°C in summer to 12°C in winter, significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin’s climate. As most of the Adriatic fishes prefer temperature up to 17°C, in the Boka Aquarium we need water chiller.
  • The Adriatic Sea is less salty than the Mediterranean Sea
  • The average salinity is 33 ‰. The Adriatic’s salinity is lower than the Mediterranean’s (38 ‰) because the Adriatic collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean, acting as a dilution basin.
  • Every 4 years the Adriatic Sea water is exchanged by natural circulation
  • The Adriatic’s entire volume is exchanged into the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Otranto every 3–4 years, a very short period, likely due to the combined contribution of rivers and submarine groundwater discharge. Drifting particles have been estimated to reside in the Adriatic Sea for just 150–168 days. The general circulation is cyclonic with a northwest flow along the eastern coast and a return southeast flow along the western coast.
  • The Adriatic Sea is one of the major global tourist destinations
  • Most of the countries bordering the Adriatic Sea are considered major tourist destinations. Some of these include Slovenia, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
  • The Adriatic Euroregion has 23 members
  • The Adriatic Euroregion was established in Pula, Croatia in 2006 to promote trans-regional and trans-national cooperation in the Adriatic Sea area and serve as an Adriatic framework to help resolve issues of regional importance. The Adriatic Euroregion consists of 23 members: the Apulia, Molise, Abruzzo, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of Italy; the municipality of Izola in Slovenia; the Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Lika-Senj, Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties of Croatia; the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of Bosnia–Herzegovina; the municipalities of Kotor and Tivat in Montenegro; the Fier, Vlorë, Tirana, Shkodër, Durrës and Lezhë counties of Albania; and the Greek prefectures of Thesprotia and Corfu.
  • The Adriatic Sea has reach biodiversity
  • There are more than 7,000 animal and plant species in the Adriatic Sea. Many are rare and threatened.
  • The largest shell in the Adriatic – the pen shell, can grow up to 1 meter
  • The pen shell is the biggest shell of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. It can grow up to 1 meter. It lives in the sand, at depths from 2 to 30 meters. Its habitat is frequently sea grass as well. It is interesting that sometimes pearls can be found in it. Many people want to have its beautiful shell as a souvenir so they carelessly take it from the sea. Its quantity has decreased in tourist areas particularly. It is protected in the whole Adriatic and the Mediterranean, so hunting and sales is strictly forbidden. 
  • In the Adriatic Sea, it takes 50-60 years for the date mussel to grow
  • The date mussel lives and grows digging holes in a rocky sea shore. Due to its extremely tasteful meat, it is over-hunted. Not only does it take 50-60 years for it to grow but to take it out it is necessary to break and almost irreversibly destroy the rocky shore. Therefore, it is strictly protected in Montenegro and hunting and sales of this shell is strictly forbidden.
  • The Adriatic Sea is endangered
  • The ecosystem of the Adriatic Sea is threatened by excessive nutrient run off from agricultural activity. A major source is the Po River, as well as Venice, and ships that discharge into the sea. Overfishing is also a problem and 120 species are threatened because of it. Some of the overfished species include Norway lobster, spiny dogfish, monkfish, and blue shark.

Back to Fascinating facts

(Visited 885 times, 1 visits today)

All rights reserved © 2023 akvarijumboka.com

Crafted with love by Bild