Expedition Description

Costa Rica has a new initiative to expand their parks and marine reserves by double. What they need now is to know what should be protected.

One of the many under protected areas in Costa Rica is a place that I’ve long wondered how to impact, Rio Sirena.

Rio Sirena is a river that winds out of Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. It is one of the main attractions in the park for two reasons, the resident crocodiles, and twice a day at high tide, bull sharks swarm up river to hunt in the fresh water, side by side with the crocodiles.

The river isn’t just a fascinating ecosystem and a magnificent place to see bull sharks it’s also a place that the sharks are under constant threat from fishermen.

At one time, it was said that you could have practically run across the backs of the sharks to the opposing riverbank. In a previous trip to the river-mouth, I stayed for nearly two days, and only saw two sharks.

Corcovado National Park extends a mere 50 meters out into the ocean surrounding the park. Protection barely extends past the breaking waves, and beyond, commercial and sport fishing boats patrol back and forth, dropping their lines into the water right into the path of the sharks.

The sharks territory extends far beyond the river mouth, and they are commonly seen 10 miles away at a marine reserve around Isla de Caño.

In the expedition to Rio Sirena, we will tag and track two bull sharks in the river-mouth with vemco radio tags, following the sharks for as long as possible. The tags will only show the location of the animal, not the depth or speed like some more expensive satellite tags, but they will give us the most important details. The goal is to track the sharks all the way back out to Isla de Caño and establish the scientific data necessary to prove beyond a doubt that the sharks routinely use the ocean between the protected areas.

Through Science and photographic documentation, I aim to make a formal pitch to the Costa Rican Minister of the Environment to create an expanded marine reserve around Rio Sirena. I hope to find any other regions that are a part of their territory that need to be protected as well, places like a nearby river named Rio Sierpe, and incorporate them into the reserve.

We are in an excellent position now with Costa Rica’s initiative to find these “conservation gaps” as they are being referred to, and get the sharks of Rio Sirena the protection that they need.

As a photographer, I’ve always come at these projects with the mindset that the impetus of change will be awareness. Photography has proven itself again and again as the most powerful medium we have at our disposal to bring this awareness about. I will be uploading daily photographs and blog posts from the field (hopefully to the National Geographic website) via satellite uplink
This kind of use of photography while on an expedition isn’t new, but it is rare, and the
ability of a daily photograph to keep thousands of peoples interest tuned to our cause will make it an invaluable part of our expedition, It humanizes the explorer, and gives people a personal experience. It allows people to imagine themselves as being a part of the expedition, making the issues more personal.

This is where I think photography really shines. A good photograph is not just one that shows a place, but something that can show people how we see the world, essentially it’s like looking through the eyes of the photographer, and seeing their vision.

Through my connections with National Geographic, and a friend of mine working on Conservation issues in Costa Rica already, I have access to a one on one meeting with the President of Costa Rica.

Up until now I’ve talked about how we will create the marine reserve, but equally important is how we will go about implementing the protection of the park.

I’ve been working on a plan for the protection of Cocos Island another marine reserve that I’ve been working on for about three years. I’m working with Geo Eye, a group which provides satellite imagery, and data to the fishing industry around the world. The Satellites provide data to fishing fleets about water temperature and fish migrations. The boats also use a system called AIS which works both ways, we can use it to track the boats and see where they are. If they approach a marine reserve the data on their location to the park rangers and the Coast Guard, detailing which boat it is, where it is, and with the satellite photographs can provide a physical image of the boat.

Once it is known that this area is being surveyed from space, fishermen will hopefully be far less inclined to break the laws. There is the issue that the boats will turn off the AIS system so the satellites won’t be able to track them this way, but since we can see them coming, we can switch to the other methods like satellite photographs once they get near the park.

If this technique works on Cocos Island, I will be bringing it to various other marine reserves in the pacific, starting with Costa Rica and the area around the Osa Peninsula where Rio Sirena is.

Regardless of wether the park is created or not, we need to find ways to change the way that people think about the ecosystem surrounding the park. The photographs, and the data, placed in a simple keynote presentation which we can show around to the local fishing villages in Costa Rica will be instrumental in educating people about the value of maintaining a sustainable fishing industry in Costa Rica. The presentation will also be formatted to be shown in schools to the local children who will grow up to take over the fishing industry. We could even print books with the photographs and simple stories for the kids and hand them out in these towns and schools.


The main purpose of this expedition is to gather information which can be used to make a visible positive impact on the oceans of Costa Rica. The goals are set high, but I think with the resources at hand they are very realistic, and attainable. Now it just takes action.