E188
Što ima, prijatelji!
It’s a festive, scary and saintly holiday weekend!
Let’s have a fun, but horror film themed language lesson.
If you aren’t too afraid!?
Lesson
Horror film or real life? - Horor film ili stvarni život?
What was that? - Što je to bilo?
Where is everybody? - Gdje su svi?
The power is out. - Nestalo je struje.
Someone is in the house. - Netko je u kući.
Let’s all stay together
Super Slatko Report
In this edition of the Super Slatko Report, DJ Moe keeps things spooky! He’ll tell us about three eerie natural phenomena that occur in Croatia. Prepare not to be too frightened, but instead, pleasantly interested!
Our first stop is somewhere the Earth appears to be staring back at you. I’ve talked about this one before way back in Episode 62 and also can be found in my Croatia Explained Book. This spot is located near the village of Cetina, beneath the Dinara mountains in inland Dalmatia, lies Veliko vrilo, also called Glavaš—a major source of the Cetina River. Its nicknames include the “Eye of the Earth,” or the “Dragon’s Eye” and an overhead view explains why. With pale rocky edges, this is a blue-green body of water that darkens toward the center, creating a remarkably convincing iris and pupil. This “eye” is the entrance to a deep, flooded cave system. How deep you ask? It’s up for debate, some say depths exceed 115 meters, (377 feet), while other reports claim 150 meters, (492 feet). But those figures only describe reported exploration, so we should resist calling either one a confirmation. But whichever number you choose, this eye has considerably more depth than your average spooky stare.
Why does this place exist? The explanation belongs to karst, the landscape created when water gradually dissolves soluble rock such as limestone. Rainwater picks up carbon dioxide, becomes mildly acidic, and works through cracks over long periods, enlarging underground passages. Groundwater eventually emerges at springs like this one. I’ve explained Karst before, it’s like Mother Nature’s plumbing. The pale shallows and darker, deeper water create the eye-like appearance; looking at it, one would think that there’s a giant creature staring up at you just beneath the mountain. Don’t be scared, just remember that this is a spring, developed through geological processes, rather than something from your dreams. Yes, this cave structure like spring has been explored by divers, but only up to their respective points, there’s really no telling how far it goes or what can be down there.
Today, the spring is promoted as a scenic attraction, with its attention grabbing beauty bringing visitors from all over. But that attention comes at a cost; those being conservation problems. The official Dinara–Cetina management plan identifies excessive bathing at the springs as a threat. This is a sensitive freshwater environment, so the sensible visit is to admire it from shore, respect posted signs and access restrictions; and leave the underwater exploration to authorized specialists. So stare into the abyss all you want, just please don’t treat it like the hotel pool.
Let’s now head offshore and sail to Otok Jabuka, an isolated, dark, roughly pyramidal island west of Komiža on Vis, out in the central Adriatic. It rises approximately 97 meters, (318 feet) above the sea level and measures about 700 meters, (2,300 feet), around. Its name means “apple,” although this particular apple brings its own brand of eeriness. Often described as a volcanic island, Jabuka consists of ancient igneous rock containing magnetite, a magnetic iron mineral. The Vis Archipelago Geopark places the region’s oldest rocks at around 220 million years old.
So how does Otok Jabuka make this spooky SSR? Well it’s said that this island had a reputation for steering sailors the wrong way and veering them off course. As you might know, a compass needle aligns itself with a northern orientation due to the Earths own magnetism. But let’s say your sailing across the Adriatic and happen to pass by magnetite-bearing island rock that alters the local magnetic field with in a certain radius; effectively pulling the needle away from the direction a navigator expects. Otok Jabuka has gained the reputation of being a “Compass-breaker.”
Knowing what we know now, the island is more of a compass-deflector to assign a more accurate description. But The scientific evidence done by researchers from the University of Zagreb surveyed Jabuka’s summit in March 2010, publishing their findings in Geodetski list in 2011. They measured a magnetic-field strength of approximately 43,081 nanoteslas, in ordinary language, their instruments detected a substantial local magnetic anomaly. The summit measurements do not establish a universal distance at which every compass becomes unreliable, but they confirm that Jabuka’s magnetic oddness is real. Imagine a sailor back in the day not knowing any of this and being completely thrown off course from their route or destination. Those Amazon prime packages are going to take longer than anticipated.
Today, Jabuka is uninhabited and protected as a geological natural monument, a designation dating back to 1958. Today Modern precautions account for the anomaly that help with weather planning, navigation and independent systems. All that said it does allow for more merch opportunities in the LLC STORE.
Watch your step with our third and final stop, this one might be a doozy. Let’s head back inland to a place called Mečenčani and neighboring Borojevići, in the Banovina region of central Croatia, southeast of Petrinja.
Just after the December 29, 2020, magnitude-6.4 Petrinja earthquake, holes in the earth began opening across gardens, fields, and land near homes. These are known as cover-collapse sinkholes: places where the surface suddenly gives way into space beneath it. The GEER scientific reconnaissance documented 91 newly opened sinkholes within about three months, concentrated in roughly 4 square kilometers, (1.5 square miles). One large sinkhole measured approximately 25 meters across and 11.7 meters deep (82 feet across and 38 feet deep) during the 2021 investigation. FYI - Those measurements were from 2021, some or all might have adjusted since then as holes of this nature could and can enlarge.
Here is what was happening beneath everyone’s feet. The area contains limestone already riddled with openings, covered by a substantial layer of soil rich in clay providing a roof. Groundwater can carry soil into those underground spaces, gradually leaving a cavity beneath a surface that still looks intact. Eventually, that remaining soil “roof” of these holes, can suddenly fail. Add in one Earthquake shaking everything, and that just accelerates an existing natural process. These underground cavities were not all carved out overnight, they were always there, just waiting, underground, in the darkness. Researchers also identified older sinkholes, predating the earthquake. Later a peer-reviewed study in Earthquake Spectra used field measurements, drone surveys, and laser scanning to investigate the collapses. The scientists were able to map the openings, measure their shapes, and examine the ground around them.
For residents, this was a serious disruption: gardens and agricultural land was lost, and some people were already living in temporary accommodations due to the earthquake. Safety responses included cordons, engineering assessments, and prioritizing holes that threatened buildings. Croatian Waters documented repairs using layers of differently sized stone and reinforcing materials, designed to stabilize openings while allowing groundwater to move. A 2024 engineering paper described a remediation assessment covering 143 sinkholes; the 91 from the Earthquake collapse and 52 others from prior ground shifting. I couldn’t find data that supports that all the collapses are now safe or filled so this could potentially still be a work in progress. If so these sink holes occurred in and around private property and we do not suggest visiting this one out of respect for those potentially still dealing with the issue.
So Croatia offers us an eye-shaped spring not fully explored, an ancient island whose magnetic rock confuses compasses and veered sailors off course, and sinkholes that opened up suddenly in 2020. Their legitimacy rests on explored passages, instrument readings, geological investigations, and engineering work. Understanding them gives us better reasons to marvel and better ways to stay safe. But knowing the science doesn’t entirely remove that little shiver when the Earth seems to stare back at you, your reliable compass loses its composure, or solid ground suddenly gives way; is still pretty spooky.
Happy Halloween
And that’s it for the Super Slatko report
