Every day, marine biologist Gerwin Gretschel observes how rapidly the Mediterranean Sea is changing. At his diving school, people learn about the dangerous marine effects of climate change.
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00:00Gerwin Gretschel gets ready for his next dive.
00:04He's explored the waters in Croatia's Valsalina Bay many times already.
00:08The Austrian marine biologist first started diving here 35 years ago.
00:13I can say with certainty that the first 20 or maybe 25 years since I first came here,
00:22there were hardly any changes.
00:27But the last 6 to 10 years, there has been an incredible amount of change.
00:33Now there are changes almost every month.
00:40Above the water, everything is like it's always been.
00:43Blue skies, crystal clear water and people relaxing by the sea.
00:50But underwater, it's clear what Gretschel means.
00:54Until a few years ago, the bay was home to seagrass meadows, a habitat for hundreds of
00:59underwater species.
01:02They're known as the lungs of the sea and key to maintaining the ecological balance.
01:15Today, Valsalina Bay is an underwater desert.
01:20No vegetation, no seagrass meadows.
01:23The marine habitat has vanished in just a few years, with dramatic consequences.
01:31Biodiversity loss means we humans are in danger of suffocating in our own filth because nature
01:36is no longer able to regenerate what we have polluted.
01:45Scientists are also worried because the Mediterranean is warming quicker than any other sea in the
01:49world.
01:52As a result, more and more marine species are colonizing the Adriatic that don't belong
01:57here.
02:01Like the blue crab.
02:04It's a direct competitor to the sponge crab, which gives it the edge when hunting prey.
02:16The fishers, on the other hand, like the blue crab, as restaurants pay good money for them.
02:22But they still don't make up for the drop in fish stocks in recent years.
02:26Today, local fisher Marinko Lapov is out with his small boat that once belonged to his father.
02:34It used to be much better. There was a lot more fish and fewer fishes. It was much more
02:40profitable.
02:43Recently, someone caught a highly poisonous puffer fish not far from here. It's normally
02:50found in tropical waters.
02:54Now there's puffer fish here. They say it's poisonous. You can eat anything usually, but
03:00people don't know this fish. Now we have to look up what kind of fish we've caught on
03:05our phones.
03:10Learning about the world's seas is the only thing that can help combat these issues in
03:14the long term. Gretschel has been running the Pula Marine School for years. The private
03:20institution teaches children and young people about the underwater world, including seagrass
03:25meadows.
03:29They take the youngsters snorkeling in the next bay, where a few seagrass meadows can
03:33still be found. For many, it's the first time exploring the underwater world.
03:45It was really interesting to see it all. It was great. We also saw a spider crab and another
03:52fish, but I don't know what it's called.
03:58The Pula Marine School sponsors research too. Two doctoral students currently work here.
04:05They're investigating the influence of artificial light, for example from the shoreline, on
04:09brown algae.
04:12With this project, we are surrounded with something that is so close to us, and we actually
04:16don't know, we know so little. So for me it's very interesting to actually be part of the
04:20project where we are searching for results and data for something that is so close.
04:28Croatia depends on tourism. Visitors are drawn to its thousands of islands and almost 2,000
04:34kilometer long coastline. But there's a dark side too. Booming construction, environmental
04:40pollution, inadequate infrastructure. So far, the Adriatic is still putting up with it.
04:48The sea has its own laws that don't apply on land. And we always measure ourselves against
04:55those laws of the land. Anything we destroy out here, we can no longer repair. The only
05:01thing we can do is to quickly leave it alone and hope that the sea will regenerate.
05:10The marine school recently got an aquarium, so youngsters can see what a perfectly intact
05:15marine ecosystem might look like.