by georgienne e. bradley - EarthImag@aol.com
photos by jay ireland and georgienne e. bradley
The sound of the Pacific Ocean gently rolling onto the sandy beach awakened us. The primary rain forest of Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park surrounded us and the noises made by the resident animals saturated the camp.
Costa Rica is known around the world for its active crusade to protect rain-forest habitats. The discovery that tourists were anxious to visit these breathtaking locales, and were willing to pay for the privilege, marked the birth of ecotourism. The government no longer needs to choose between feeding its citizens and preserving natural resources. Today, Costa Rica's principal source of income is tourism.
Hiking through Corcovado, it became clear why so many visitors travel so far to walk in this place. The heat of the day is soothed under the protection of the jungle canopy that towers 20 to 30 feet above our heads. Much of the wildlife in this region never leaves its cover. The cool, muted undergrowth is sparse here because sunlight rarely penetrates the leafy layer above. The nutrient wealth of a rain forest resides in its canopy.
Shrieks punctuate the other jungle sounds. Four scarlet macaws crash though the foliage. Wings spread in full display, they glide through the air before landing on a strangler fig. Noisily they peer down upon us. Satisfied we are not a threat, they turn their attention to each other and disappear as quickly as they entered.
Although large cats are seldom spotted in Corcovado National Park, tracks are quite common. Pumas, ocelots, and jaguars prowl the park grounds. During our stay, we spotted both puma and jaguar tracks. These animals require large areas of hunting grounds. They are disappearing at the hands of poachers, and their habitat is shrinking. Corcovado is one of the few places on earth that supports these elusive creatures.
The large animals are magnificent, but tiny creatures that lurk under leaves, behind fronds, and within flowers sometimes get overlooked. Close inspection of the insect community here will reveal creatures that even Spielberg could not have imagined. These tiny animals are often peculiar, beautiful, dazzling, and frightening all at once. Iridescent butterflies and diligent leaf cutter ants can be found here busying themselves with work, ignorant of their observers. During our stay in Corcovado, we saw many of the 400 species of birds and 139 species of mammals protected by the park.
Corcovado is only one in the extensive network of terrestrial parks that extends throughout Costa Rica. These parks protect a range of ecosystems and many sorts of flora and fauna. But so far, Costa Rica has done little toward establishing protected regions underwater.
In very recent years, visitors have brought their interest in diving with them to Costa Rica, and a scuba market is beginning to develop in the country. With so much coastline, some on the Pacific Ocean and some on the Caribbean Sea, this can probably come as no surprise. The underwater attractions of the entire Pacific Coast are still relatively unknown. The nutrient-rich coastal waters draw large schools of fish, manta and spotted-eagle rays, hammerhead sharks, and dolphin.
As increasing numbers of divers visit Costa Rica, more value will be attached to marine and freshwater areas. Underwater national parks are already being considered for Costa Rica, but the country will be playing catch-up to many of its Caribbean neighbors in this regard. U.S. divers don't need to travel far to find new kinds of dives here. Costa Rica, a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Miami, offers some breathtaking attractions. Lacking the colorful coral gardens and perfect visibility of Caribbean diving, it holds dramatic animal life.
We have been diving in areas where schools of fish surrounded us, temporarily blocking the sun's light. The momentary darkness and the sensation of being surrounded by thousands of circling fish is an eerie adventure. Encounters with manta and spotted-eagle rays can be equally surprising and they are fairly common in coastal Costa Rica. Many smaller creatures that cling to the rocky reef also are intriguing. So little attention has been paid to these smaller reef residents that divers have a good chance of discovering new species. Twice, we have photographed fish that were unknown in the scientific literature. We were delighted to be able to name these creatures.
Adventure, conservation, and discovery come to mind in the context of Costa Rica. If the country handles its underwater regions as reasonably as it has handled its rain forests, eco-diving could become a source of income that would support local human populations--and even help pay for conserving the beauty that attracts divers. - End -
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