Heron: Long hot summer

This summer was long and really hot. The heath and tons of mosquitoes really took the joy out of any outdoors activities. In the middle of August I drove to Skradin again and spent three weeks on Heron.

The temperatures in Dalmacija were even higher than back home and staying even one day in marina was straining. A little comfort came from cool showers and beautiful surroundings. Occasionally the dragonflies flew by, like this Blue-tailed damselfly or Modri kresničar (Ischnura elegans)...

...or mom Mute swan or Labod grbec (Cygnus olor) came by with her young ones.

We sailed off on Friday, August 16th, in the evening and spent the night on anchor on Prokljan lake. Next morning we sailed trough the canyon of river Krka...

...towards lake in front of Šibenik and then on through the last part of canyon...

...by on ex military tunnels on to the sea.

Our first stop for lunch and swimming was near island Zlarin. And I went snorkelling, of course. I was lucky to again see a live Green ormer or Petrovo uho (Haliotis lamellosa).

I discovered this weird looking thing, that looked like some sunken large vehicle with two wheels still attached and some big Oysters or Ostrige growing on it.

Forecast for the rest of the week was not great, so we chose the bays where we would be well protected. First night we slept in Uvala Mirina, next one in Grebaštica, where we had some rain, and the next one in Rogoznica where we had a lot of wind and even more rain. Not only that the bays are not very good for snorkelling, but the weather was not suitable for it either.

On Tuesday we still had some rain in the morning, but later on the sun came from behind the clouds. We made a short stop in Primošten and in afternoon anchored in Uvala Zaražanj on island Zmajan, under the blue sky in bright sunshine.

Of cours I had to use the opportuniti to go snorkelling. The Forkweed or Ploščata razcepljenka (Dictyota dischotoma) was shining in the sunlight.

I found a pretty Mediterranean red sea star or Ognjenordeča zvezda (Echinaster sepositus).

There were plenty of Mediterranean damselfish or Črnikov (Chromis chromis), these are the young ones. The adults are dark grey to black, without the blue stripes.

This pretty thing is a variety of Cyanobacteria or Kalotriks (Calotrix spp.).

And this is an algae, the Peacock's tail or Lijakasta padina (Padina pavonica).

I am not sure what this is, maybe some kind of Murex shell.

An this is another mystery - it was quite big and my initial thought was that it is a Giant tun or Sodec (Tonna galea), but the opening doesn't look quite right. So I'm still working on this one.

This is the only Cylinder anemone or Peščena roža (Cerianthus membranaceus) that I found this year.

The Slime tube worm or Peščeni cevkar (Myxicola infundibulum) usually looks like a small black sea urchin, but this one already tried to hide in its tube and I found the outer rim interesting.

Here are some more tube worms - Blood-red tubeworm or Oranžni cevkar (Protula intestinum) in the foreground...

...and Red tube worm or Pisani pokrovčkar (Serpula vermicularis) in the background, here the Blood-red tubeworm was already hidden in its tube.

And since this is the section of tubeworms, here is another beauty - the Red-spotted horseshoe or Apnenčasti cevkar (Protula tubularia).

The Gold sponge or Spužva žveplenjača (Aplysina aerophoba) formed the circle on the ground.

And I was really happy to have found a Common octopus or Navadna hobotnica (Octupus vulgaris), here in company of a Comber or Pirka.

And this was a first nudibranch of the season - the Hope's Elysia or Pisanček (Thurdilla hopei).

This is a Purple sea urchin or Vijolčasti morski ježek (Paracenrotus lividus).

This is a coral, the Pig-tooth coral or Kamnito nakovalce (Balanophyllia europea).

And here is the fish section - first we have a cross looking Painted comber or Pirka or Pisanica (Serranus scriba)...

...and a Rusty blenny or Babica papagajka (Parablennius sanguinolentus) with elegant eyebrow...

...and some Mediterranean sea smelts or Veliki gavuni (Atherina hepsetus) with Common two-banded seabreams or Fratrci (Diplodus vulgaris) in the background.