New Hope Spot Champions for the Costa Rica Thermal Dome Emphasize Need for Sustainable High Seas Management

June 14, 2022

Featured image: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) (c) Fundación MarViva

Costa Rica, Tropical Pacific Ocean

---

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome (CRTD) is considered a deeply important place in the high seas of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETPO). Here, strong upwelling events provide high concentrations of nutrients for creatures like blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), and giant manta rays (Mobula birostris). (Broenkow, 1965; Jiménez, 2016). Megafauna like sea turtles rely on these waters to migrate and mate. As the Dome is located in the high seas, no one country holds claim to it – nor can protect the threatened marine life within. However, the new Hope Spot Champions have bigger plans for the Dome.

 

 

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome was first named a Hope Spot in 2014, and Mission Blue now celebrates Dr. Jorge Jiménez and his team at Fundación MarViva (MarViva Foundation) as the Hope Spot Champion in recognition of their ongoing work in marine spatial planning in the ETPO and their partnership with the French government to establish an international, multisectoral model for the sustainable management of high seas regions.  

 

 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “Bravo, Jorge Jiménez, and thank you for stepping up to be the Champion of the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, a really important place in the ocean that needs to be recognized and safeguarded. Thank you for joining with them and others who recognize that we must take action to really enhance protection for this critical part of the ocean. The Costa Rica Thermal Dome is a critical component of the commitment that the nations along the Eastern Tropical Pacific have made to safeguard a swimway where migratory species have a safe haven.”

Dr. Jorge Jiménez, General Director of MarViva Foundation and Hope Spot Champion says, “The Dome is a wonderful and unique phenomenon in nature, on which many human activities depend. From MarViva we have been promoting public and political awareness, and there is still a long way to go. We are confident that in the coming years the Dome will be appreciated and its resources will be protected.”

 

 

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome is quite unique. While its permanent core is located in the high seas, during periods of maximum extension, the Dome covers part of the jurisdictional waters of the Central American countries. The extension of the upwelling is in constant contraction and movement depending on the stage of the annual cycle and the year. 

 

 

In 2014, MarViva began collecting data on the life and unique properties of the Dome and produced and published an Atlas of the area. Now, the French government has agreed to work with MarViva on a case study to build a joint governance model for sustainably managing the high seas. Dr. Jiménez believes that having more Central American governments on board will be crucial to the plan’s success. “Our plan is to have this proposal for a potential structure built out over the next five years”, he explains. Included in this model are proposed plans for fisheries and navigation management. The goal is for the Dome to be a successful case study demonstrating the viability of the UN new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

 

 

Dr. Jiménez and his team also hope for the designation of the CRD as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the High Seas. He explains, “It is our joint responsibility to promote the sustainable management of this area, only with a joint effort we can achieve it.” He continues, “Central America will benefit from a sustainably managed Dome, where fishing and maritime navigation produce the least possible impact on the habitats and species that inhabit or frequent the Dome.”

The Dome is of great relevance for species of high conservation value, including blue whales, which travel thousands of miles from the Pacific Coast of North America to feed and have their offspring here. The presence of newborn blue whales and the abundance of food confirm that the Dome is a particularly important site for the birthing and feeding of the species (Jiménez, 2016). 

 

 

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome, like many areas of the high seas around the world, faces threats from unregulated fishing, unregulated and increasing navigation (which cause the interruption of ecologic and migratory dynamics, collisions, and underwater noise), plastic pollution, and a changing climate. Working multinationally to protect the Dome will benefit millions of people – Central American governments have already acknowledged the need to protect the sustainability of critical industries in the region including diving and sightseeing activities. 

 

 

Dr. Jiménez concludes, “Ensuring the sustainability of the Costa Rica Thermal Dome will provide hope for the future by demonstrating what can be accomplished when governments, the private sector, the scientific community, international organizations, and civil society organizations all work together toward a shared goal.”

About Fundación MarViva (MarViva Foundation)

In 2002, a group of philanthropists made an exploratory trip to Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica and proposed a model for the responsible management and use of resources based, initially, on the support of control and surveillance activities. That same year, MarViva was established. For 20 years, MarViva has contributed to marine spatial planning, the promotion of responsible market dynamics for marine products and services, and the strengthening of institutional and local capacities to optimize the sustainable management of the ocean.