I had a short adventure in Slovenia this month- a magical place full of lakes, waterfalls and castles. The last day we explored the Postojna Caves near Ljubljana. Over 20km in length, the caves are extremely extensive and were formed over two millennia by the River Pivka.
10km north of Postojna is Predjama Castle- a near impregnable fortress built into the natural features of the rock and attached to a network of tunnels in the cave system.
Postojna Cave is home to over 150 species, the most notable a type of aquatic salamander called the Olm or Proteus Anguinous. These incredible creatures spend their whole lives under water, in the dark and are entirely adapted to their cave habitat.
At full growth they scale from 25 to 30cm in length and are thought to live up to 100 years in age. If food is scarce they can live for several years without even a morsel. Usually their diet consists of worms, snails and crustaceans.
They display neoteny, meaning they keep features in their adult state, such as their gill frills, that are typically only seen in the larva stage in many animals. Their eyes haven’t fully developed, but as a result they have an acute sense of smell and hearing. It is also thought they can detect electrical and perhaps even magnetic fields.
Due to their soft pink hue the locals have named the Olm the ‘human fish’. During bouts of heavy rain the Olm have been found washed out of the caves; which centuries, upon centuries ago, bolstered by a belief in mythical creatures, inspired the locals to presume they were dragon offspring!
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