Island as the best diving location in the world. As a tourist destination, it is the most untouched, incredible location in Costa Rica, generally attracting only the most serious researchers and divers. And recently, those researchers have discovered that the beautiful island’s waters are home to micro “insects” and algae that are self-illuminatory, much like the phosphorescent creatures of other locations. These tiny sea creatures are largely responsible for maintaining the island’s clear waters, and feeding the larger species that are so common here. The majority measure less than one millimeter, and are elusive, therefore relatively unknown to science. Their ability to glow in the dark allows them to light up the island’s waters at night, creating a dazzling, sparkling undersea light show.
The creatures’ luminescent abilities are actually a chemical reaction: when they perceive change in their surrounding environment, they release chemicals into the water, which create a blue, glittery effect. To learn more about these creatures, the Center of Scientific Investigation of the Sea and Fresh Water (Cimar), of the Universidad de Costa Rica, has launched an in depth study. Costa Rica offers not only virgin rainforest, fascinating volcanoes and pristine beaches but also an overwhelming world of undersea wildlife - and it is estmated that 3.5% of the wolr's biodiveristy lives in the waters of Costa Rica. A recent study cataologued 6,777 individual species.
The creatures’ luminescent abilities are actually a chemical reaction: when they perceive change in their surrounding environment, they release chemicals into the water, which create a blue, glittery effect. To learn more about these creatures, the Center of Scientific Investigation of the Sea and Fresh Water (Cimar), of the Universidad de Costa Rica, has launched an in depth study. Costa Rica offers not only virgin rainforest, fascinating volcanoes and pristine beaches but also an overwhelming world of undersea wildlife - and it is estmated that 3.5% of the wolr's biodiveristy lives in the waters of Costa Rica. A recent study cataologued 6,777 individual species.
Between 2 to 15 miles offshore the northwest of the country from Nicoya peninsula the archipelago of the Catalina Islands is located and this archipeligo consists of about 20 rocky islands of different sizes. A little bit further north, Bat Island / Isla Murciélagos is located. The exposed location of these islands guarantees an abundant variety of sea wildlife which is hardly to be found somewhere else. For some reason - unexplained up to now - the Catalina and Bat Islands are a melting pot of very different undersea wildlife and fish that usually do not occur together. With good luck, even whale sharks are to be seen at Bat Island.
The diversity of marine life is huge and may rival that of the rain forests in the number of species found there, and, yet, our knowledge of ocean life lags far behind that of terrestrial life. A new age of ocean exploration is upon us, and there is a very practical need to better understand changes occurring in the seas for their implications on human life and our marine resources. The Census of Marine Life (CoML) addresses these issues as a global network of researchers in about 80 nations engaged in a ten-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life in the world oceans - past, present and future. The emphasis of the program is field studies, which are to be conducted in poorly known habitats as well as those assumed to be well known. In both coastal and deep waters, projects will identify new organisms and collect new information on ocean life. Through the field studies and other projects, ranging from analyzing historical documents to modeling future ecosystems, the CoML will enable scientists to compare what once lived in the oceans to what lives there now, and to project what will live there in the future.
