Sea, sun, beach, watermelon, cocktails, vacation, socializing… you will agree that summer brings many joys, but we must not let these beautiful things blind us. In summer, maritime traffic on the Adriatic is increased and, as such, it represents a significant risk of sea pollution.
Although such pollution can negatively affect the tourist season and economic gain, it may be more important to emphasize that pollution will long-term threaten marine biodiversity and, consequently, the health and well-being of residents. Therefore, next time you see sea pollution, be a responsible citizen and report it to the relevant authorities. Find out whom and how in the following text.
What is sea pollution?
First of all, it is necessary to clarify what sea pollution actually is. According to the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EEION), sea pollution is any harmful change in the marine environment caused by the intentional or accidental release of hazardous or toxic substances, such as industrial and commercial, as well as municipal wastewater.
Sea pollution (or the threat of sea pollution) can occur due to various circumstances. The National Plan for Intervention in Case of Sudden Sea Pollution differentiates:
- sudden sea pollution: an event or series of events of the same origin that cause or may cause the release of oil and/or oil mixtures, hazardous and harmful substances, and that represent or may represent a danger to the marine environment or coast, and that require emergency action or other immediate response,
- extraordinary natural event at sea: a natural occurrence caused by the excessive growth of certain marine organisms, such as algae, jellyfish, etc.
In short, an example of sudden sea pollution would be a shipwreck, and an extraordinary natural event at sea would be an algae bloom.
However, what we want to draw special attention to in this article are intentional cases of pollution caused by individuals, owners, or commanders of ships/boats.
This is especially noticeable in summer, with the boom of nautical tourism, when we can witness situations of tanks emptying into the sea due to unaware individuals, a lack of infrastructure for emptying ship tanks on land, or pure ignorance. So, on the one hand, nautical tourists are often not informed about the obligation to retain wastewater on board, and thus their tanks are, for example, constantly open. On the other hand, infrastructure on land sometimes is lacking, is not available everywhere, or cannot meet the needs for emptying all ships, which mostly arrive at the port at the same time. The sea is large and hard to monitor without the use of modern technologies, which is currently not the case.
It’s probably sufficient to mention that the wastewater released from vessels into the sea is very harmful because it often contains various pollutants, including heavy metals, organic substances, and pathogenic microorganisms. That’s why it’s important to react.
What can responsible individuals do?
In fact, it is necessary to react because the National Intervention Plan, as well as all county intervention plans, legally oblige responsible persons, but also citizens, to report sea pollution.
The plan states that if there is a threat of pollution or it has already occurred from a maritime object – whether it is a vessel, floating, or stationary coastal object – the responsible person for that object is obliged to inform the National Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Rijeka by calling 195.
Therefore, if a sailor has a sewage spill into the sea, they are obliged to report it to the relevant authorities.
The polluter bears the costs incurred by the pollution of the marine environment. The Intervention Plan Implementation Headquarter, or the County Operational Center, informs the public about the occurrence of sea pollution and the actions taken for cleaning and preventing further sea pollution.
Who can you, as a citizen, report sea pollution to?
In addition to the persons who caused this type of damage, we repeat that the Intervention Plan legally obliges anyone who notices sea pollution or an accident that can cause sea pollution to immediately inform the relevant services. This provision allows for more effective supervision in the sense that all vessels are obliged to report if they see pollution, which also means if they see another vessel discharging wastewater.
You need to inform about sea pollution:
- the relevant port authority or its branches (for pollution caused by individuals, owners, or commanders of ships/boats);
- Pula: 052 222 037
Rijeka: 051 214 031
Senj: 053 881 301
Zadar: 023 254 880
Šibenik: 022 217 214
Split: 021 362 436
Ploče: 020 679 008
Dubrovnik: 020 418 989
- Pula: 052 222 037
- the county center 112 (for sudden sea pollution and extraordinary natural events at sea prescribed by the National Plan).
You can also report sea pollution to the Green Phone – a free tool of Sunce that provides citizens with information and advice and helps solve environmental problems in local communities. The network of green phones exists in whole Croatia, and Sunce automatically receives calls from the Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties. Last year, we received 15 reports from concerned citizens about sea pollution, and this year (so far) six. Since most of them were received from June to September, it is clear that this problem mostly occurs during the tourist season.
What should you consider when reporting?
Upon receiving a call on the Green Phone, we will direct you to the relevant services or participate in the administrative procedure ourselves to solve the problem.
You need to inform us of the following:
- the date and time when the sea pollution or the event that can cause sea pollution was noticed;
- the area of sea pollution or the event that can cause sea pollution (for example, GPS coordinates);
- description, intensity, and extent of sea pollution;
- data on the source or possible source of sea pollution (maritime object, pollution sources from land), for example, the ship’s registration and name, information about the owner/commander.
And you can do all this completely anonymously!
Call us at 072 123 456. The call cost is the same as any call within the T-Com HR fixed network. You can also file a report via email at [email protected].