Costa Rica´s Constitutional Court moves forward with law suit filed this week against shrimp trawling.

The Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (Incopesca) and the Technical Secretariat of the Environment (Setena) 

have three days to respond.

Constitutional Court orders Incopesca and Setena to inform on lack of Environmental Impact Assessments 

to allow this activity.

Constitutional Court orders Incopesca to not grant any more shrimp trawl licenses.

San José, Costa Rica – May 30, 2012.  

The Constitutional Court decided to move forward with the suit filed 

against shrimp trawling activities submitted by Non Government Organizations (NGOs) members of the 

“Frente Por los Mares” (Our Oceans Front).  The Court considers that this case is not only the competence 

of Incopesca, but also of Setena, because of which it granted both institutions a 3 day term to inform it on 

the terms presented in the suit.

The Constitutional Lawsuit against shrimp trawling was submitted last May 28, the objective of which is to 

forbid this type of fishing due to its irrefutable destructive nature.

“Our Oceans Front” denounces that Environmental Impact Assessments are not mandatory to carry out 

this activity, the negative effects of which have been widely demonstrated through scientific research.

As for right now, the group of NGOs is satisfied, but not too confident ye.  Thus, until the Court resolves,  

the Front will continue to inform the public on the impacts of shrimp trawling on the country’s marine 

resources.

About the “Our Oceans Front”

“Our Oceans Front” is a group of NGOs active in Costa Rica that work towards the improvement of the 

administration of marine resources through a series of legal, scientific, political and civil approaches. It 

promotes the reform of Incopesca in order for it to appropriately respond to the objectives for which it ws 

created:  the public interest and the sustainable use of fishery resources.

The nine NGOs, (Asociación Pretoma, Fundación Keto, Fundación MarViva, Fundación Promar, 

International Student Volunteers, Inc., Sea Save Foundation, The Leatherback Trust, UESPRA, Widecast), 

and concerned citizens who itegrate the Front, have experience in an array of fields, such as 

environmental education, research, conservation, and defense of the marine environment.

Lagoon Lament

Don't Harm Malibu Lagoon to "Save" It

The Malibu Lagoon, the wetlands at the base of Malibu Creek, is an ecosystem home to plants, fish, birds and mammals and a place we can visit and celebrate nature. The California State Parks system is planning to bulldoze and dredge the lagoon to "restore" it: they want to fix what they perceive as broken. They plan to commence June 1, during bird nesting season. 

Many of us see the Malibu lagoon as a thriving nature habitat that needs to be nurtured and protected. We all want the Lagoon to be healthy, but we can help it thrive without disrupting the things living in it. Tell California officials not to destroy Malibu Lagoon in an attempt to save it! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/136/334/131/

Malibu Lagoon: Bulldozers? Really?

Malibu has gained international fame for its residents’ love of the ocean, the beach and the surf.  The Malibu Lagoon is centrally located in Malibu and is one of the final refuges for the animals that patrol our coastline.  This area serves as a nursery and as a safe roost for hundreds of birds and other animals.  The tidewater goby, listed on the federal endangered list, calls this area home. Other threatened animals live here also.

We should celebrate, that amidst the Malibu hubbub, paparazzi, traffic and development that this small corner is still rich in animal life.  We should applaud the fact that we can still see throngs of pelicans, gulls and myriad other migratory and resident birds nestling in every night.  We should delight in the fact that a tide goby has been able to flourish in this spot, one of only three spots in the world it has been able to survive.  How will we celebrate this treasure?  How will we show the world that Malibu has yet one more beauty to share?

Well, if we cannot change the current plan, we will celebrate by welcoming a league of bulldozers on June 1.  They will “carefully” plow this irreplaceable habitat into trucks to be hauled away. The bulldozers will capture the gobys which live in the muddy substrate in their massive buckets, lift them high in the air and then plop the endangered animals into the awaiting vehicles.  The gobys will be killed in the process, as will with countless other resident animals.

The destruction is slated to begin in the spring.  Nesting season will be greeted with the rumble of dozers and the destruction of countless nests.  Why is this happening? 

California State Parks deem the lagoon unhealthy.  There have been studies that show the lagoon is oxygen depleted.  The current lagoon sprung from a faulty 1983 design, when the engineers thought they knew how to “fix” nature.  They were wrong.  They are wrong again now.

Malibu Lagoon has passed the pioneering stage and now supports a mature ecosystem. Nature has righted itself. Please join us tonight at Malibu City Hall, or by writing to Governor Jerry Brown asking him to stop this act of fiscal irresponsibility and environmental terrorism.  Does the lagoon need help?  Sure.  But the problems which challenge this rich area can be remedied by a few shovels, volunteers, a cleanup day and simultaneous government attention focused on the upstream sewage processing plan which has been speculated to be a major culprit in the lagoon’s low oxygen levels.

Let’s use a little common sense. Much of Malibu’s wildlife call this area home, this is nesting season, the lagoon hosts one endangered and several threatened animals.  Bulldozers?  Really?

Georgienne Bradley
Director
Sea Save Foundation

New Shark Species, Resembling Great White, Discovered at Cocos Island - April, 1 2012

Cocos Island, Costa Rica - April 1, 2012 - Even in waters as well visited as those surrounding Cocos Island, UNESCO World Heritage site, biologists can discover new species. The latest? A remarkable new shark measuring over 15-feet in length.  Previously unknown, this shark joins the long list of cartilaginous fish inhabiting the waters surrounding this Costa Rica Island.

New Species Demonstrates Novel Camouflaging Abilities

Carcharodon chameleonarias is a large apex predator that has evaded divers and scientists, until now, due to its uncanny camouflaging abilities.  While thought to inhabit deep water, this shark’s defenses enable it to patrol shallower waters under the protective cloak of a highly developed camouflage system.  Dentricles, typical of other shark species, have been replaced by a system of color receptor and morphing cells, enabling the fish to blend perfectly with its ever-changing depth and topographical background.

Nemo Johnson, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discovered the impressive fish while participating in a Sea Save Foundation Expedition.  “We know that there are many still undescribed species of flora and fauna in the water surrounding Cocos Island, but we were never expecting to find something of this size and biological significance.”

Carcharodon chameleonarias  is probably most closely related to the Carcharodon carcharias, better known as the Great White Shark. While more study is needed, the new species is thought to be an expert predator and potential holds many clues to shark evolution and adaptability.  DNA analysis is still needed, as scientists were unable to recover tissue samples. 

The discovery was described in “The Journal of Chondrichthyes” A follow-up Sea Save Foundation expedition is being planned. Be sure to add your name to the SeaSave.org newsletter for future updates.

Cocos Island Finches: An Overview - William Henriques

The mid-afternoon and mid-morning coffee break at the Wafer Bay Station: sipping rich, hot coffee and eating a packet of cream-stuffed cookies, watching the three or four Cocos finches, twitter around the porch rafters and railings, lurking in hopes of crumbs. It was part of the daily ritual: sit down for coffee, and within five minutes the finches would appear, hopping closer and closer to the open packet of cookies before a warning hand would shoo them away. The finches have a fairly ordinary appearance, and an ignorant birder like me could easily label them a kind of sparrow, and dismiss them as a common songbird.

A male eyes my cookies from a porch railing

But the Cocos Island Finch, Pinaroloxias inornata, is no ordinary bird. Though indeed of the family Emerizidae, which also includes buntings and American sparrows (www.birdlife.org), the Cocos Finch is unique in the world, found only on the 23.85 square kilometers of Cocos Island. Wikipedia calls it the thirteenth of Darwin’s finches, the only one not found on the Galapagos Islands.

This female got a hold of my cookie crumbs

The males are a shimmering coal black, and the females are a tabby, streaked brown. Usually 12 cm. from beak tip to tail, with a wingspan of 18 cm, these birds weigh between 12-16 grams. They are foragers, feeding on a highly varied diet of seeds, insects, crustaceans, fruits, and small lizards (and the occasional packaged cookie crumb). They breed most heavily between January and May, typically incubating two brown-speckled white eggs for 12 days in spherical nests suspended in tree branches. The finches thrive in all the habitats of the island, and they have proven to be fairly resistant to habitat disruptions, such as the introduction of cats, rats, and pigs to the island.

That being said, they are still classified as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, due to the fact that the population of 10,000 to 20,000 is limited to such a small geographic area.

Cocos Island Expedition

Cocos Island Expedition

Last Minute Cocos Angel Special  

$500 Discount!

May 5 - 15

The Sea Save Team is on their way back to Cocos Island for more of the world's best high-adrenaline diving!

Join us as we return to the land of BIG.  Hammerheads, whale sharks, tiger sharks, manta rays and so much more. The Sea Hunter will sail if we have 10 people who sign up in the next 14 days!

The Bottom Line 

Package Includes:
State of the art, live-aboard accommodations on the Sea Hunter for 10 days
All diving
Nitrox
Round-trip transportation from San Jose to the port city of Puntarenas where you will board the Sea Hunter
Price $4,790.00

Contact Information
Earthimag@aol.com  or call us at 310.458.0700

Please call or e-mail if you are interested in this trip ASAP.  We will need to make our final decision in 15 days.