Nature park Telašćica

Telašćica nature park is located in Telašćica bay in the central part of the Adriatic Sea, in the southeastern part of Dugi otok. In 1988, the bay was declared a nature park. The Park area is rich in contrasts, quiet and peaceful beaches on one side and wild steep cliffs on the other, an area of forests of Aleppo pine and holm oak on one side, and bare rock on the other.

The main features of this area are the safety and beauty of the largest nature harbor in the Adriatic Sea, which contains 25 small beaches, the cliffs of Dugi otok, which rise up to 161 meters above sea level and descend to a depth of up to 90 m, and the salt lake Mir, which has healing properties.

Thanks to its position, the bay is protected from strong winds from the mainland and from the south from the open sea. This is why Telašćica is one of the best protected natural harbors on the eastern coast of the Adriatic.

Lake Mir is located in the southwestern part of the Telašćica nature park. The lake was created when the sea level roses after the last ice age, and the karst depression was filled with sea. The lake is 900 m long, its greatest width is about 300 m, and its greatest depth is 6 m. The lake is salty beacuse of the underground channels through which is connected to the sea, and its salinity is higher than the sea due to significant evaporation. In the southeastern part of the lake, the bottom is covered with healing mud. Due to its shallowness, the lake is warmer in summer and colder in winter than the sea. Due to temperature differences and salinity, the lake is biologically poor. You can find plankton, algae, flounder, mullet, sea bass, several types of shellfish, snails, crabs and eels.

On the outside of the bay rise the vertical cliffs known as Dugi otok „rocks“. The cliff stretches from Cape Mrzlovica to Veli vrh, reaching a height of 161 m. The greatest depths reach 85 m. Two endemic species of land snails live on the rocks of the cliff, and various sponges, anemones, corals live in the underwater recesses of the cliff in half-dark caves...

Taljurić is one of the interesting features of the bay, because it is actually a small stone slab with a diameter of about 60 m and a height of about 3 m. From a distance, it looks like a flat round plough, similair to the kind of plank used in the kitchen and on ships, so sailors called it „tagliero“. The sea area around Taljurić is rich in a variety of fish, especially deep-sea fish.