// LAKE "MIR" //

Lake "Mir" is located in the south-western part of the Nature Park Telašćica. The lake is situated in a narrow area of land between the bay Telašćica and the open sea. After the last Ice Age the sea level rose to approximately 120 meters when the karsts depression met the sea, which it penetrates through numerous underground cracks, particularly numerous on the north side. The sources of the sea are easy to recognize during the tide. The length of the lake is approximately 900 m and it is of 300 m. The maximum depth is 6 m. The lake is salty because its underground channels are connected with the sea. Salinity of the lake is generally higher than the surrounding sea due to evaporation and restrictedness of the lake. In the lake Mir very small changes in water levels have been found since the cracks which connect the lake with the sea area are of low porosity. On the south-eastern part of the lake, the sea tends to spill over into the lake during storms. The shores of the lake are mostly low and rocky, with numerous depressions, while only in the extreme north-western part less accumulation of sand may be perceived.The lake bottom in shallow areas is rocky and in deeper it is covered with clay and on a part of south-east it is covered with fine grey silt (curative mud).

Temperature amplitudes of the lake are very prominent (in summer to 33 º C and winter to 5 º C). Because of that, the lake is warmer than the coastal sea in the summer and colder in winter due to the shallowness of the lake. The salinity of the lake is over average due to evaporation. These extreme conditions are the cause of biological poverty of the lake. Apart from the plankton, there are only a few species of marine organisms. These include: algae, goby, mullets, sea-bass, several species of shellfish, snails, crabs and a special type of eel (called “kajman” or “bižat” by the locals) which can grow up to 3 kg.