Heart, Fingerprint, Fish and Apple: Small Croatian Islands with the Most Unusual Shapes
No, this isn’t about a word association game, but four Croatian islands among the world’s most interesting islands thanks to their unusual shapes.
No, this isn’t about a word association game, but four Croatian islands among the world’s most interesting islands thanks to their unusual shapes. And they’re all located in a dragon-shaped country!
Galešnjak – island of love
Love is everything. It makes the world go round, it makes life more beautiful and the proof showing how much love there is in Croatia lies between Pašman Island and the mainland village of Turanj. The islet of Galešnjak is so close to the coast that it seems as if you could reach it while swimming. However, we advise you to hire someone to take you there for a sightseeing and a spectacular #instamoment. The islet is not inhabited, although there are archaeological findings confirming that people lived there about 7,000 years ago during the Stone Age. Google Earth made it famous globally in 2008, declaring it a natural heart-shaped phenomenon. Did you know that there are only two more islands alike in the world?
Baljenac (Bavljenac) – fingerprint
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The islet of Baljenac, also known as Bavljenac, literally looks like a fingerprint from the air. We automatically wondered if a cyclops, a giant, or some other ancient Greek giant passed through Croatia, leaving his huge fingerprint there. It is interesting that this uninhabited islet of 0.14 k㎡ in Šibenik’s waters has as much as 23 km long dry stone, diligently built throughout the history by the local people. This so-called “stone lace” is a Croatian cultural heritage that will soon get UNESCO’s recognition. Valuable volunteers from Kapri Island and the Šibenik City Museum regularly cut plants and herbs to keep this fingerprint visible to all interested people. The islet of Baljenac does not want to activate the security settings on the mobile phone and it will happily show you its fingerprint, so visit it and say thanks.
Gaž Island – playful little fish
The islet of Gaž jumped out of the Adriatic into the Brijuni archipelago just like a playful little fish. This islet is not open to the public, but you can see it from a deck of an excursion boat. Unlike the talkative little fish Dory from the famous cartoon, this islet is secretive and shy and if you are patient enough, you just might catch it.
Jabuka – magnetic attraction
The Venetians named it Jabuka, which means apple in Croatian. This rocky islet with its inaccessible coast and altitude of 99.3 meters above sea level makes us think of a secret island that belongs to some evil scientist who wants to conquer the world from his hidden base. The islet of Jabuka is a volcanic island whose rocks contain magnetite which makes the magnetic needles of the ships in its vicinity go crazy and spin in all directions. It also has an excellent air defence in the form of, believe it or not, the fastest animal in the world, a grey falcon that can plunge into sailors’ drones at the speed of 389 km/h. The poor drone will never even know what hit it; maybe it’s for the best. Prepare your cameras and mobile phones, especially if you are going diving, because the deep sea around the islet of Jabuka is rich in all kinds of aquatic species, from dentex, hake and angler to shrimps. Paradoxically, you will find apples here only if you bring them from the mainland yourself!