Osa Peninsula Chronicles

When we began our research, nobody expected us to find very many sea turtles inside Golfo Dulce — most sea turtle activity was thought to occur on the Pacific side of the Osa Peninsula. It turned out that chelonids were the most frequently seen family of animals, accounting for 38 percent of our total sightings. [...]

An unexpected but delightful result of our survey work in Golfo Dulce was the identification of about 80 individual Bottlenose dolphins (Turciops truncatus), some of which can be seen in the Appendix of my 2010 report. How does one go about identifying dolphins? Well, pioneering biologists studying various species discovered ingenious ways to distinguish individuals. Jaguars have [...]

As Published in The Leader-Telegram They have a saying in Costa Rica: “Pura vida.” It literally translates as “pure life,” but to Costa Ricans, it can be inserted into many contexts and applications: “Thank you,” “You’re welcome,” “So it goes,” “Wonderful.” It is used so freely here I wouldn’t be surprised if it meant, “Pass [...]

A variety of whale species may be found in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Costa Rica, including Byrde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni), Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and Killer whale (Orcinus orca). But the most commonly seen whale inside the Golfo Dulce is the Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), a species [...]

The 2011 Osa Peninsula Audubon Christmas Bird Count summary is finally in. This Christmas, participants included Osa Conservation, Bosque del Rio Tigre, Bosque del Cabo, El Remanso, Iguana Lodge, Luna Lodge, Lapa Ríos, SurcosTours and Blue Ave. Participants spent 78.5 hours monitoring birds in the Osa Peninsula, spotting a total of 4,506 birds. Click here for the full report!

It is that time of year again; time to count birds throughout the Americas in the name of conservation and science.  A more than 100 year tradition, the Audubon Society has led the charge to bring together citizen scientists, biologists and bird enthusiasts from Canada to the southern tip of South America to conduct one [...]