Conservation

Aquarium Pula continuously concentrates its efforts towards protecting the most sensitive and endangered Adriatic species while raising public awareness.

Sea turtles

Sea turtles have inhabited the world's seas for over 110 million years, but the daily anthropogenic impact on the marine ecosystem poses an immediate threat to their survival. Global sea turtle populations are declining dramatically, which is why sea turtle recovery centers are being established around the world, and our Center is the first of its kind in Croatia.

Cartilaginous Fishes

Although they have remained virtually unchanged for the last 350 million years, the latest report of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states that more than a thousand species of sharks and rays worldwide are endangered and at risk of extinction. Uncontrolled fishing causes a drastic reduction in cartilaginous fish populations, which is why Aquarium Pula focuses its conservation activity on their protection.

Nobel Pen Shell Sanctuary

2016 marked the beginning of one of the heaviest and most disastrous periods in the history of noble pen shell existence. A newly discovered parasite, Haplosporidium pinnae, in synergy with the bacterium, Mycobacterium sherrisii, killed noble pen shell populations on Spanish Balearic. By 2020, these pathogens uncontrollably dispersed throughout the Mediterranean and infected almost all individuals in the wild. Nowadays, we count only a few dozen live pen shells in salty lagoons in France, Spain and Turkey.

Corals

Coral reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth; they cover only 1% of its surface, but they support 25% of the biodiversity. However, the acidification of oceans and long-lasting high temperatures cause mass coral bleaching (the process of the loss of algae living in their tissue), which threatens their survival all over the world. It is estimated that more than 50% of coral reefs have been irreparably damaged, which puts at risk one of the world's greatest resources.