Unprecedented sea temperatures are being recorded on the Adriatic. Yesterday on the island of Mljet, the sea temperature was measured as high as 30 degrees. Today, the sea reached 29 degrees in Dubrovnik and Mljet, and 28 degrees in Lastovo, Krk and Split. And as the heat wave warms up and people look for refreshment in the crystal, clear Adriatic they’re finding it’s almost just as warm as the air temperature. “The sea is like soup,” commented one local after diving into the sea in Mlini.

Davor Lučić from the Institute for the Sea and the Coast, commented on the extremely high sea temperatures. “Temperature is one of the main regulators of all biochemical processes in living organisms, including life in the sea. In any case, the trend is not good. If this continues and this temperature penetrates into deeper layers, it can certainly cause really big consequences for the living world, especially for the organisms that live on the seabed. They are very sensitive, if an elevated temperature comes into their habitat, it means death for them,” said Lučić.

He added that “The Mediterranean is a tame, calm sea, without dangerous organisms, but since the breakthrough of the Suez Canal and due to the climatic conditions as they are today, tropical and subtropical species are coming.”