Ballena Marine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Marino Ballena), is a

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

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 no ...

, part of the Osa Conservation Area created as a safe area for

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

migration, hence its name, as is the Spanish word for whale. The national park has an area of marine, and terrestrial. The park was created by executive decree Nº 21294-MIRENEM on 9 June 1992. From December to April, the park is visited by migrating

humpback whales The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

who come to breed in the warmer tropical waters off the Central American coast. From June to November, the whales migrate north to the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

and southern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, where they feed. In the terrestrial area of the park there are the beaches of Ballena beach, Uvita bay beach and Piñuela beach.

References

Nature reserves in Costa Rica Protected areas established in 1991 Geography of Guanacaste Province Tourist attractions in Guanacaste Province 1991 establishments in Costa Rica {{CostaRica-protected-area-stub