Sirena sunset

Our 2012 program has entered it’s twilight.  We’ve left the Sirena Station and Corcovado National Park after seven days and eight nights with regular sightings of Tapirs, Spider Monkeys, Golden Orb Spiders, Hermit Crabs, Scarlet Macaws, grasshoppers bigger than your hands, Howler Monkeys, Katydids, Great Curassows, Crested Guans, Tiger Herons, Yellow-headed Caracaras, and Turkey Vultures.  Rarer sightings included Bull Sharks, American Crocodiles, White-collared peccaries, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Squirrel Monkeys, White-faced Capuchins, Red Brocket Deer, and Land Crabs. 

In the higher density canopy sites, our bird team recorded the sounds of nine different species while our botany team identified 24 unique trees among more than 40 individuals. But we really just scratched the surface of Corcovado’s biodiversity.  Costa Rica’s Biodiversity Institute, or INBio, completed a rapid ecological assessment of the Osa Peninsula and surrounding areas containing Corcovado National Park.  They reported 794 species of vascular plants and noted research identifying 46 species of amphibians, 58 bats, 124 mammals, 71 reptiles, and 375 birds among 38 different ecosystems (www.inbio.ac.cr). 

The Osa’s biological heart is the Corcovado Basin within the National Park.  University of Texas biologist Larry Gilbert is reported to have said that: “The diversity of ecological systems found on the Osa is not exceeded by any area of comparable size on earth” and National Geographic is often attributed with saying that Corcovado is “the most biologically intense place on the planet.”  Thus, it is unlikely that any of our 18 students will ever be immersed in such biodiversity again.  I told our Costa Rican partners at Sirena that I will forever be grateful for sharing this special place with our students whose eyes were filled with wonder, curiosity, bewilderment, and sometimes fear.  Sirena will remain in their memories and mine for a long time.