Costa Rica, Intentional Ignorance

Costa Rica, you’ve heard of the country. Lush forests, zip lines which they attach you to a long line and you sail through the trees while attached to a long wire cable spanning a forest tree to a forest tree. You’ve seen the beautiful waters off their shores, the culture and the history. I lot of US dive shops put together trips to Costa Rica for the adventure and the diving. I have banned Costa Rica as a place for leisure travel and I do not recommend Costa Rica to anyone.

Humans kill over 100 million sharks a year, and this is what they do it for  fins for soup, bone for jewelry, souvenirs, belts and wallets, cartilage for cures, liver oil for cosmetics and much more.

Costa Rica is well known for its shark fining practices and many of the locals know it. Movement to stop the fining is in motion by individuals and organizations, yet not any governments, ah-humm – officially -. Officials appear to look the other way, ignoring their own laws for the sake of money. Most of the fins taken off the shores of Costa Rica are exported to countries like China, or Taiwan, basically anywhere in the Asian markets, which has a huge demand for the fins. At $500 a pound, one may earn more in one day that a week or two of fishing. You can see the attraction.

The following article by the Sea Shepherd Society displays good examples, witnessed and documented off the Costa Rica coast line.

Click on the banner to read an article posted June, 2003, by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The following articles were included as a reference or a guide towards finding out the truth to what folks are saying in and around Costa Rica. The links were chosen randomly.

August, 2006

New Shark Finning Law in Costa Rica Not So Noble After All

August, 2008

Costa Rica Proposes New Shark Finning Law

February, 2010

Costa Rica Shark Finning – Is It Being Monitored?

Let us stop using  the unseen as an excuse for ignorance.

One way or another, it boils down to the money. Pinch off an economy at one end and the other end will bulge. It’s a matter of knowing which end to pinch. With enough pressure, the alternatives which have been placed aside will begin to look possible. Please help stop this irresponsibility by supporting a cause of your choice. Become involved with the future of this planet and take the responsibility to learn at least one thing about this planet we should conserve and support that ideas survival.

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