Cocos Island does anyone CARE?

The owner of Casa Caletas Hotel on the Nicoya Peninsula, Sylvester Feichtinger, has basically told the Environmental Tribune of Costa Rica to F-Off. Don't know the story? Read it HERE. But this post isn't really about them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why Sylvester Feichtinger ASSUMES he can get away with this blatant disrespect towards the 'powers that be' in Costa Rica- foreign governments have been doing the same thing for so long now, it's turned into a weird bedroom co-dependency of sorts, "You know I'm going to FUCK you anyway, so you may as well enjoy some of the BENEFITS of allowing me to fuck you. I should mention, I won't be wearing a condom, but you can TRUST me."

Two days ago this came out:

"A team of National Geographic researchers and filmmakers have become eyewitnesses to what many scientists consider to be among the major threats to marine biodiversity at Costa Rica's treasured Isla del Coco, a national park 365 miles off the Pacific coast.

Fishing is prohibited inside the park's boundaries. Still, hundreds of miles of illegal fishing lines and thousands of hooks are found inside the protected area every year, according to the National Geographic group." Full Story HERE.

If you don't know anything about Isla del Coco or Coco's Island for you gringo's, it is basically the 8th Wonder of the World and for good reason. This is Costa Rica's crown jewel of marine biodiversity. Scientists and divers come from all over the WORLD to explore Coco's Island. The beauty is beyond compare both above and below the surface.

Unfortunately, the marine life and especially the sharks and sea turtles of taken a HEAVY hit over the years from ASIAN fishermen more interested in exploiting Cocos Island in order to line their pockets as well as provide the Asian upper class with their traditional and very pricey, shark fin soup. Costa Rica is either unable or unwilling to protect the sharks and sea turtles from long line fishing and shark finning off the waters off Coco's Island. Unfortunately I believe the latter to be true. You didn't think all the police cars, bicycles, soccer balls and the all-purpose sports Stadium being built in San Jose were an actual 'gift' from the Chinese government, did you?

*Interested in knowing more about sharks and sea turtles as well as the effects of shark finning and long line fishing on the environment in GENERAL: Check out the folks at PRETOMA. They have TONS of INFO and articles.... and also how YOU can help.

Long line fishing does NOT discriminate.
President Oscar Arias is off giving speeches about the effects of Global Warming and telling folks how Costa Rica will be the first Carbon Neutral country in the world, but he's pretty much proven he doesn't have much time for the problems concerning Coco's Island. Oscar is CLASSIC- the perfect face to put on Costa Rica- serious, smart, articulate, seemingly committed blah, blah, blah, but he markets PERCEPTION, not reality... and I gotta say, outside Costa Rica it works like a charm. Ask anyone what they know about Costa Rica,,, the following words are sure to be uttered: eco-friendly, green, sustainable, diversity, carbon neutral... blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, Oscar is not only in bed with the Chinese government, he owes them a little somethin-somethin for all their 'gifts'. Believe me, these are NO gifts, this is quid pro quo, nothing more, nothing less, so I suppose a few hundred thousand shark fins isn't too much to ask for a poor tico boy to be able to kick around a brand new soccer ball or ride a bike to church. Ahhhhh....the ties that bind....

Oscar's the classic case of the construction worker FOREVER working on other peoples' houses, but never his OWN.

Shark finning off Coco's Island is BLATANT. Long line fishing is BLATANT. Don't listen to me...hell, National Geographic now knows it. I hope they tell EVERYONE. I want Costa Rica's dirty little secret- OUT.

But really, who cares... a few hundred thousand sharks are killed each year as well as any other sea creatures that GET in the WAY,,,, but people are making a living, Asians are eating their soup, foreign relations are COZY, poor tico kids are riding new bikes and kicking around brand NEW soccer balls, and have you seen the NEW police cars- pretty snazzy (although most seem to already have run into a pole or two), and STADIUM for god sake... and through it all, Costa Rica STILL maintains eco-'fuck'in-friendly STATUS.*I added the 'fuck'in' part.

I have a new slogan for Costa Rica:

'Today's Costa Rica- worrying about tomorrow, TOMORROW.'


*I reserve the RIGHT to write BULLSHIT. I could be wrong. I would encourage you to connect your own dots.

Hey Everyone, we got TONS of Costa Rica Travel Information in our Travel Guide at Travel Costa Rica NOW and don't FORGET all our Costa Rica Travel Tip Videos, completely ORGANIZED so you can EASILY find what you're LOOKING for. ENjOY!