Locals hope Croatian bay becomes world's smallest sea

GORNJI KARIN, Croatia (Reuters) - Residents of a beautiful bay on Croatia's Adriatic coast are hoping that the place they have always called the Karin Sea can be officially designated the world's smallest sea, bringing more tourism and more environmental protection.

The Karin Sea, located 30 km east of the coastal city of Zadar and which is home to protected marine life such as dolphins and sea turtles, covers an area of only about six square km and locals say it is so small that a swimmer can cross it in a few strokes.

Tomo Aracic, head of the Karinska Riviera tourist association, says there are plans to apply to Guinness World Records to have the Karin Sea designated the world's smallest sea. At present, the smallest is Turkey's Sea of Marmara, by Istanbul, which connects the Black Sea through the Bosporus to the Aegean Sea through the Dardanelles.

Guinness defines seas as "smaller bodies of water than oceans, but still large water bodies, party enclosed by a land mass and connected to an ocean."

The Karin Sea has been marked as a sea on maps for centuries.

"This is the most beautiful sea for me. If we manage to do this, then it will be really great that [the sea] is known about," said local resident Danko Vivodinac.

(Reporting by Antonio Bronic, Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)