What is it?
CRMRN is a non-profit scientific and educational
program established and coordinated by PROMAR and
registered by Resolution No. 099-2000 of the Costa
Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) for
the whole country.
Since its creation in October 1997, it has been devoted
to attend stranding and entanglement cases of dolphins
and whales in both coasts of Costa Rica. Its Results
Due to the fact that cetacean strandings had never
before been studied in a systematic manner, a historical
review was made which lead to a scientific
article , with the purpose of creating a database
about the subject in Costa Rica.
From October 1998 to April 2004, CRMRN
has been informed of 43 stranding cases on different
beaches of the country, on the Pacific as well as
on the Caribbean side. In total 83 individuals of
10 different species were involved, of which 56 were
alive and 44 have returned to the sea. Five of the
attended cases were directly related to fisheries.
Its importance
Almost all cetacean species are threatened, endangered
or in some degree of diminishment. Cetaceans in Costa
Rica are highly diverse, consisting of 35% of all
the species of this Order on the planet.
CRMRN contributes to making efforts
for the well-being of cetaceans, via direct care when
found alive and their subsequent release, when health
conditions allow it. From attending these animals,
it is possible to get to know why cetaceans strand
or get into fishing nets, this way building a bridge
between people and cetaceans in a completely positive
way for both, developing the awareness in humans of
the effects of their actions on marine life and ecosystems.
