- Eco guide for Adriatic
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by Ultra Sailing Team
Name: The origins of the name Adriatic are linked to the Etruscan settlement of Adria, which probably derives its name from the Illyrian adur meaning water or sea
Location: between the Balkan and Apennine Peninsula, extending in a northwest-southeast direction of 783 km
Adriatic countries: Italy, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Geography: The sea is geographically divided into the Northern Adriatic, Central (or Middle) Adriatic, and Southern Adriatic
Coast and islands: This beautiful 5790 kms of coastline is one of the most indented coastlines in the world
The Croatian islands cover almost all the islands of the eastern Adriatic coast and its central part, making it the second largest Mediterranean island. There are a total of 1,242 islands, islets and reefs. The largest islands are Krk and Cres. There are 47 inhabited islands.
Climate: Mediterranean type of climate with warm and dry summers and mild and moderately rainy winters. The average annual air temperature above the Adriatic is 17 ° C with an average of about 2,600 hours of sunshine a year. The Adriatic and its islands are among the bluest and sunniest parts of Europe.
Depth: The Adriatic Sea’s average depth is 259.5 metres (851 ft), and its maximum depth is 1,233 metres (4,045 ft); however, the North Adriatic basin rarely exceeds a depth of 100 metres (330 ft). The Adriatic Sea is shallowest in the Gulf of Trieste (up to 23 m), and the entire north-western shallow depth not exceeding 50 m.
The Middle Adriatic basin is south of the Ancona–Zadar line, with the 270-metre (890 ft) deep Middle Adriatic Pit (also called the Pomo Depression or the Jabuka Pit). The 170-metre (560 ft) deep Palagruža Sill is south of the Middle Adriatic Pit, separating it from the 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) deep South Adriatic Pit and the Middle Adriatic basin from the South Adriatic Basin. Further on to the south, the sea floor rises to 780 metres (2,560 ft) to form the Otranto Sill at the boundary to the Ionian Sea.
Sea temperatures: The Adriatic Sea is one of the warm seas. Temperatures range from 22 to 25 ° C in summer and 5 to 15 ° C in winter.
Transparency: up to 56 m, which is far higher than other seas
Salinity: 38 ‰, which is higher than the world average
Sea currents: They are of low intensity, along the eastern Croatian coast they are warm, and the western ones are cold. Sea currents have no significant effect on the safety of navigation in the high seas and are generally not hazardous to swimmers. The mean velocities of the sea currents are about 0.5 knots, but in certain conditions, especially in narrow passages and near the river mouth, they can reach up to 4 knots.
Tides: In the Adriatic, tides have relatively small amplitudes. In the southern part, the difference is rarely over forty centimeters, while in the northern part and the Istria and the Gulf of Trieste it is slightly larger, up to 1m.
Weather conditions and winds on the Adriatic sea: On the Croatian side of the Adriatic Sea, there are three characteristic types of weather
- by the north wind – with the northern cold and dry wind called Bura,
- by the south wind – the southern warm and moist wind called Jugo,
- by the stable summer weather, with daily NW – northwest wind called Mistral and the night breeze from the mainland called Burin,
- Nevera or Neverins – local and short-term bad weather events of smaller scale
