Vrtlina - golema špilja velebitskog Podgorja
Vrtlina - the huge cave of Velebit Podgorje

Summary/Abstract: At the far south of Velebit Podgorje, between Visočica and Kruščica, in the area of the Velebit Nature Park, there is a cave with four pit entrances. From the main, largest entrance opening (40 x 50 m), which makes a pit about 70 m deep the cave extends in a northwest direction, almost rectilinear, about 900 m long and 195 m deep. The width of the cave channel is20-80 m, which makes it especially interesting. The first person to explore, describe and draw a plan of it was Ivan Krajač from Senj in 1932, and speleologists from Zagreb continued the work.During an exploration of Velebit in 1961 the speleologists from Zagreb once again explored the cave and recorded it topographically. One independent study was carried out by Jerko Malinar (Speleological Section of the Velebit Mountaineering Society University from Zagreb) in 1978and somewhere towards the end of the cave he found a new channel with a syphon lake, but he did not photograph it. One team of Zagreb speleologists visited Vrtlina in 2000 to take photographs,and along the way they looked for new sections, however, Malinar’s channel was not found.In 1987 Zadar mountaineer Slavko Tomerlin installed (with the help of speleologists) a steel cable for support during the descent down the steep wall of the pit, 40 or so metres deep (to the top of the rock creep). Mountaineers and speleologists have also visited the cave, and in recent years, biospeleologists have also visited it many times, studying the flora at the entrance part of the cave and the fauna of the interior of the cave. The greatest features of the cave are the huge underground spaces with enormous stone blocks that have fallen from the ceiling as well as the beautiful cave decorations (flow stones, stalagmites and stalactites in various colours, plus eccentric dripstones with large visible crystals). Even back in 1932 Ivan Krajač suggested that the cave be adapted for tourism, which is still a suggestion today when there exist many greater technical possibilities for it.

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