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Cocos Marine Conservation Area
Cocos Marine Conservation Area () is an administrative area which is managed by SINAC for the purposes of conservation of Cocos Island, in the Pacific Ocean national waters of Costa Rica. This conservation area stretches from the south extreme point of Nicoya Peninsula towards Cocos Island, geographically as an island territory, it has pronounced topography, it is frequently cloudy and has copious amounts of rain year round. Cocos Island National Park and two marine management areas are within the ACMC. There are 235 plant species, 400 of insects (65 endemic), 5 of reptiles (2 terrestrial endémic), 3 of marine turtles, 100 of birds (13 resident, 3 endemic), 50 arthropods (7 endemic), 57 of crustaceans, 600 of marine molluscs and 250 of fish. Among fish there are whitetip shark, hammerhead shark, yellowfin tuna, parrotfish, manta ray and jurel. Protected areas * Cocos Island National Park Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean adminis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puntarenas Province
Puntarenas () is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the western part of the country, covering most of Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean coast, and it is the largest province in Costa Rica. Clockwise from the northwest it borders on the provinces Guanacaste, Alajuela, San José and Limón, and the neighbouring country of Panama. Overview The capital is Puntarenas. The province covers an area of , and has a population of 410,929. p. 22 It is subdivided into 11 . For administrative purposes, the island [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Maritime boundary, maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of . An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, Costa Rica, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. The sovereign state is a Unitary state, unitary Presidential system, presidential Constitution of Costa Rica, constitutional republic. It has a long-standing and stable democracy and a highly educated workforce. The country spends roughly 6.9% of its budget (2016) on education, compared to a global average of 4.4%. Its economy, once heavily dependent on agricultu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SINAC
National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC, es, Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación) is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) of Costa Rica. It is the administrator for the nation's national parks, conservation areas, and other protected natural areas. Created in 1994, it combined three previously separate organisations that had managed laws relating to national parks, wildlife, and forestry. Scope SINAC oversees over 160 protected areas, of which 26 are designated National Parks. Other areas are designated wildlife refuges, biological reserves, national monuments, forest reserves, national wetlands, and protected zones. The entire country of 12,596,690 acres (50,977 km²) is under the jurisdiction of eleven large Conservation Areas which were created in 1998, overseen by divisions of SINAC. Over 25% of the national territory, i.e. 3,221,636 acres (13,037 km²) is included in the national parks, refuges, and protected zones within these el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cocos Island
Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarenas. With an area of approximately , the island is more or less rectangular in shape. It is the southernmost point of geopolitical North America if non-continental islands are included. The entirety of Cocos Island has been designated a Costa Rican National Park since 1978, and has no permanent inhabitants other than Costa Rican park rangers. Surrounded by deep waters with counter-currents, Cocos Island is admired by scuba divers for its populations of hammerhead sharks, rays, dolphins and other large marine species. The wet climate and oceanic qualities give Cocos an ecological character that is not shared with either the Galápagos Archipelago or any of the other islands (for example, Malpelo, Gorgona or Coiba) in the eastern Pacific O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean . '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the |
Nicoya Peninsula
The Nicoya Peninsula () is a peninsula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is divided into two provinces: Guanacaste Province in the north, and the Puntarenas Province in the south. It is located at . It varies from 19 to wide and is approximately long, forming the largest peninsula in the country. It is known for its beaches and is a popular tourist destination. The main transport and commercial centre in the region is Nicoya, one of the oldest settlements in Costa Rica. Ferries run between the town of Puntarenas on the mainland and the Nicoya Peninsula. There is an international airport in nearby Liberia and small domestic airstrips in Nosara, Carrillo, Tamarindo and Tambor. The region was also featured in the book '' Blue Zones'', by Dan Buettner, which focused on the longevity found among Nicoya's residents. Places of interest Other notable settlements and places of interest in the area include (going roughly from north to south): Tamarindo, Santa Cruz, Nosara, Sáma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wildlife Management Area
A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Management Reserves, Waikato * Waihi Estuary Wildlife Management Reserve, Bay of Plenty * Lake Waiau Wildlife Management Reserve, Manawatū-Whanganui * Koitiata Wildlife Management Reserve, Manawatū-Whanganui * Fletcher Creek Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Te Wharau Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Granville Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Hochstetter Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Wanganui River Flat Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Oneone Wildlife Management Area, West Coast * Pye Creek Wildlife Management Area, West Coast Papua New Guinea In Papua New Guinea a Wildlife Management Area is the simplest form of protected area. A WMA designation protects an area of land or water while retaining fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceanic Whitetip Shark
The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. Its stocky body is most notable for its long, white-tipped, rounded fins. Though slow-moving, it is opportunistic and aggressive, and is reputed to be dangerous to shipwreck survivors. Recent studies show steeply declining populations because its large fins are highly valued as the chief ingredient of shark fin soup, and as with other shark species, the whitetip faces mounting fishing pressure throughout its range. Taxonomy The oceanic whitetip shark, or lesser white shark, was described in 1831 by naturalist René-Primevère Lesson, who named the shark ''Carcharhinus maou''. It was next described by Cuban Felipe Poey in 1861 as ''Squalus longimanus''. The name ''Pterolamiops longimanus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammerhead Shark
The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a "hammer" shape called a cephalofoil. Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus ''Sphyrna'', while the winghead shark is placed in its own genus, ''Eusphyra''. Many different, but not necessarily mutually exclusive, functions have been postulated for the cephalofoil, including sensory reception, manoeuvering, and prey manipulation. The cephalofoil gives the shark superior binocular vision and depth perception. Hammerheads are found worldwide in warmer waters along coastlines and continental shelves. Unlike most sharks, some hammerhead species usually swim in Shoaling and schooling, schools during the day, becoming solitary hunters at night. Description The known species range from in length and weigh from . One specimen caught off the Florida coast in 1906 weighed over . They are u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellowfin Tuna
The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian language, Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye tuna. The species name, ''albacares'' ("white meat") can also lead to confusion: in English, the albacore (''Thunnus alalunga'') is a different species, while yellowfin is officially designated ''albacore'' in French language, French and referred to as ''albacora'' by Portuguese fishermen. Description The yellowfin tuna is among the larger tuna species, reaching weights over , but is significantly smaller than the Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna, Pacific bluefin tunas, which can reach over , and slightly smaller than the bigeye tuna and the southern bluefin tuna. The second dorsal fin and the anal fin, as well as the finlets between those fins and the tail, are bright yellow, giving this fish its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrotfish
Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion. Description Parrotfish are named for their dentition, which is distinct from other fish, including other labrids. Their numerous teeth are arranged in a tightly packed mosaic on the external surface of their jaw bones, forming a parrot-like beak with which they rasp algae from coral and other rocky substrates (which contributes to the process of bioerosion). Maximum sizes vary within the family, with the majority of species reaching in length. However, a few species reach lengths in excess of , and the green humphead parrotfish can reach up to . The smallest species is the Cryptotomus roseus, bluelip parrotfish (''Cryptotomus roseus''), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manta Ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPectoral, pectoral fins, horn-shaped cephalic fins and large, forward-facing mouths. They are classified among the Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives) and are placed in the Family (biology), family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). They have the largest brains and brain to body ratio of all fish, and can pass the mirror test. Mantas are found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters. Both species are Pelagic fish, pelagic; ''M. birostris'' Animal migration, migrates across open oceans, singly or in groups, while ''M. alfredi'' tends to be resident and coastal. They are filter feeders and eat large quantities of zooplankton, which they gather with their open mouths as they swim. However, research suggests that the majority of their die ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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