Whale Shark Stuns Tourists Off Pula Coast

The news in Croatian

1. turist  (m.)
   osoba koja putuje u drugo mjesto ili zemlju radi odmora ili razgledavanja ↩︎
2. kitopsina  (f.)
   vrsta vrlo velikog morskog psa koji jede sitne morske organizme poput planktona ↩︎
3. znatiželjan
   koji jako želi nešto saznati ili vidjeti, želi znati više ↩︎
4. uplašen
   onaj koji osjeća strah, koji se boji ↩︎
5. ugasiti
   prestati raditi ili svijetliti (npr. isključiti svjetlo, motor, vatru) ↩︎
6. plankton  (m.)
   sitna morska bića i biljke koja plutaju u moru, hrana mnogim morskim životinjama ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: What were the tourists first looking for when they were on the boat near Pula?

Question 2: What did the captain do with the boat when the whale shark came close?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
turist  (m.)	tourist
kitopsina  (f.)	whale shark
znatiželjan	curious
uplašen	frightened
ugasiti	to switch off
plankton  (m.)	plankton

Read the full story

Tourists on a small excursion boat near the Croatian city of Pula had an unexpected encounter at the weekend when a huge whale shark appeared beside their vessel in the Adriatic Sea.

The sightseeing boat “Orca”, skippered by experienced seaman Zvonko Halimić, had set out on Saturday afternoon to look for dolphins in the waters off Pula, in northern Istria. On the way back, about half a nautical mile from the coast, a whale shark surfaced right next to the 10‑metre boat.

According to Halimić, around ten German tourists, including several children aged roughly 5 to 15, were on board. Reporters from Croatian media describe how the children tried to reach out with their hands to touch the animal as it passed. Witnesses said that no one on the boat appeared frightened; instead, there was surprise and excitement as the shark swam calmly alongside them.

Both news reports quote Halimić as saying that the shark was almost as long as the boat, with an estimated length of about eight metres. He compared its head to the bow of the vessel in size and shape. The large dorsal fin was first seen earlier in the trip, when the crew noticed an unusually big fin cutting through the water, but the closer encounter happened later near the area known as Muzil.

Halimić, who previously spent around ten years as a professional fisherman and has been at sea for most of his 65 years, told journalists that this was his first close encounter with a whale shark. He described the moment as highly unusual for him, despite a lifetime on the water. The animal reportedly stayed near the boat for about ten minutes, swimming slowly and appearing to observe the people on board.

To avoid disturbing the animal, the skipper said he switched off the boat’s engines, leaving the vessel drifting over water about 40 metres deep. He suggested that the engine noise and vibrations might have bothered the shark, which then approached more closely once the boat was quiet. Passengers filmed the scene, and local media published short video clips showing the enormous fin and part of the animal’s body beside the hull.

The reports from different outlets agree that the whale shark showed no signs of aggression. Instead, it moved gently through the water and at one point opened its wide mouth to feed. Halimić explained to reporters that whale sharks feed on plankton, small organisms floating in the sea, and are therefore not considered dangerous to humans. One description from the skipper compared the open mouth to a giant refrigerator door suddenly swinging open in front of the boat.

Only after the crew explained what kind of animal they were seeing did many passengers realise they were looking at the largest living fish species in the world. Whale sharks are technically a type of shark, but they are filter feeders and are generally described by marine experts as gentle giants. Although they are more commonly associated with tropical and subtropical seas, occasional sightings are reported in the Adriatic, including off Croatia’s coast.

The captain emphasised in interviews that he had never before witnessed such a large marine animal from such a short distance. After several minutes near the drifting boat, the whale shark eventually turned away and dived back into deeper water, leaving the tourists with what local media described as an unexpected “bonus” to their dolphin‑watching excursion and a memorable story to take home from Croatia.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school dedicated to teaching Croatian through online Croatian classes. Through this service, we share updates, resources, and information to support learners at different stages of their studies.