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ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

Costa Rica – Cabo Blanco ISRA

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Costa Rica – Cabo Blanco ISRA

Costa Rica – Cabo Blanco

Summary

Cabo Blanco is located at the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula in north Pacific Costa Rica. The area includes the Absolute Natural Reserve and the Marine Management Area of Cabo Blanco. There are diverse habitats including coral and rocky reefs, sandy bottoms, and tidal pools. Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Bull Shark Carcharhinus leucas); range-restricted species (Pacific Chupare Styracura pacifica); resting areas (Pacific Nurse Shark Ginglymostoma unami); and areas important for movement (e.g., the Oceanic Manta Ray Mobula birostris).

Costa Rica - Cabo Blanco

Costa Rica – Cabo Blanco

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Cabo Blanco is located in the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula along the Puntarenas coast of Costa Rica. Situated within the Pacific Central-American Coastal Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve was the first protected area with a coastal zone established in Costa Rica in 1963 (RNACB-ACT-SINAC-MINAE 2009; Alvarado et al. 2012). It includes Cabo Blanco Island which is a small portion of land (0.075 km2) located 3 km from the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. This area comprises a variety of shallow coastal and deep marine habitats, including islands, coral and rocky reefs, sandy bottoms, and numerous tidal pools. The climate in this area is highly influenced by dry and rainy seasons. The dry season occurs from December to April, and the rainy season occurs from May to November, with the heaviest precipitation during September and October. The average annual temperature in this area is 27°C with an annual average humidity of 81%.

This Important Shark and Ray Area is delineated from surface waters (0 m) to a depth of 40 m based on the maximum depth range of the habitat used by the Qualifying Species.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

Four Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM regularly occur in the area. Threatened sharks comprise the Endangered Pacific Nurse Shark (Pollom et al. 2021) and Vulnerable Bull Shark (Rigby et al. 2021). Threatened rays comprise the Endangered Oceanic Manta Ray (Marshall et al. 2022), and Vulnerable Pacific Chupare (Kyne et al. 2020).

CRITERION B

RANGE RESTRICTED

Cabo Blanco holds the regular presence of Pacific Chupare as a resident range-restricted species in the Pacific Central-American Coastal LME. The species has been regularly observed at Cabo Blanco through ongoing monitoring since 2019 and is recorded on every visit to this area (J. Madrigal-Mesén pers. obs.). In addition, four Pacific Chupare (3 females and 1 male between 53.4 and 68 cm disc width) were caught during two night-surveys (∼2 hours of effort per day) and were tagged to monitor their movement. Results indicate that Pacific Chupare utilises mangrove ecosystems and large tidepools within the area (R. Arauz et al. unpubl. data 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C3 – RESTING AREAS

Cabo Blanco is an important resting area for Pacific Nurse Sharks. This species is predictably observed in aggregations of up to 30 individuals within the Cabo Blanco area (Palacios-Martínez 2014). Based on observations between November 2007 and October 2010, Pacific Nurse Sharks regularly rest on the substrate (Palacios 2008).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C4 – MOVEMENT

Cabo Blanco is an important area for the movement of one shark and one ray species. There is strong evidence on the presence, residency, and movement patterns of Bull Sharks and Oceanic Manta Rays within this area (E. Chávez et al. unpubl. data 2022; J. Madrigal-Mesén unpubl. data 2022).

The presence of Oceanic Manta Rays in Cabo Blanco is regular and predictable, with over 100 individuals catalogued into an identification database since 2018 (J. Madrigal-Mesén unpubl. data 2022). Between 2020 and 2022, 33 Oceanic Manta Rays have been tagged with acoustic transmitters within this area. An additional two individuals were tagged with satellite transmitters in 2022. Preliminary results provide insight into the movement of this species, which have a large geographic range within this region. Tracking indicates that this area and two other locations (Las Catalinas and Caño Island) are used by Oceanic Manta Rays between November and May/June and connect the movement of this species (J. Madrigal-Mesén unpubl. data 2022). This behaviour has been recorded during the dry season, and recorded movements suggest that the presence of Oceanic Manta Rays relates to increased productivity as a result of increased sea surface temperature. These changes in environmental variables also drive the movement of Oceanic Manta Rays in other areas (Lezama-Ochoa et al. 2019).

Bull Sharks have been recorded moving between Cabo Blanco, Coyote, and Bongo. Twenty-three Bull Sharks were acoustically tagged and tracked between 2015 and 2019. Preliminary results indicate that at least five of these Bull Sharks were detected in the Cabo Blanco area (by acoustic receivers installed at the coast and on the island) approximately one year after being tagged. These results suggest that Bull Sharks, roughly 3–4 years old, travel about 40 km (linear distance) from Coyote and Bongo to Cabo Blanco revealing the spatial connectivity between these locations (E. Chávez et al. unpubl. data 2022). The Coyote and Bongo area sustains younger Bull Sharks, as neonate, young-of-the-year, and juveniles are recorded in the area (Chávez 2017; De la Llata Quiroga 2021; E. Chávez et al. unpubl. data 2022). Therefore, Cabo Blanco is spatially connected to Coyote-Bongo and the movement of the Bull Sharks between these areas could be related to a vital function (reproduction).

Costa Rica - Cabo Blanco

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