by Rod Hughes

Costa Rica’s territorial waters, only a drop in the planet’s oceans, contain 6,778 species of marine life, or 3.5% of the species on the planet. This is pretty good, since the tiny area comprises only .16% of the all oceans’ surface area. This information is revealed in the new book by Ingo Wehrtmann and Jorge Cortes of the University of Costa Rica.

The new 550-page publication, besides providing wonderful statistics to casually drop at a cocktail party, is the first real inventory of Costa Rican waters and was compiled from information provided by 54 scientic writers, 24 of them Costa Ricans. All of the book’s contents is new, 21st century data.

But lest you think that the country’s waters provide an endless cornucopia of seafood, remember that 1,300 of those species are gastropods like sea snails. The fish comprise only 17% of the species while largely inedible species, like sea slugs, make up 22%. Even sea mammals like dolphins, orcas and whales, are in the minority, only 24 species, while ocean worms number 400.

Still, the combined studies show that, like the tiny Costa Rican land mass, the country’s surrounding ocean is a treasure trove worth guarding with fierce dedication. This is especially true on a planet turning increasingly hostile to that which creeps, swims, walks, hops and flies.