Killer Whales in The Tropics: Manuel Antonio National Park and Curu Wildlife Refuge
This morning we disembarked on Espadilla beach, at Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the smallest protected areas of the Costa Ricas National Park system. This park protects 3 beaches and their surrounding marine life as well as a second growth rain forest that offers excellent probabilities for mammal viewing. The options for this morning were a short walk along the sloth valley trail and an interpretative walk on Cathedral Point. Both trails were generous with their sightings: we saw 6 brown-throated three-toed sloths, including a female with her baby, and two Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths. And sloths were not our only treat! A troop of mantled howler monkeys distracted us for several minutes as we watched the babies trying their first movements up on branches. Reptiles were also present: a nice male Jesus Christ lizard and several Ctenosaurs or black iguanas.
We returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch, and a delicious paella was served. Most of us were enjoying dessert when, in the distance, we spotted a pod of killer whales or orcas from the back of the ship! It was incredible! Three Orcas (a male and two females) were actively feasting on the calf of a humpback whale. The killer whale is the largest member of the dolphin family and is a versatile predator with one of the most varied diets of all cetaceans. It is seen more often in cooler waters than in the tropics and subtropics. We watched them for more than an hour as they kept coming up to breath, and every once in a while the male would bring the calf carcass up to the surface. At one point, this magnificent male killer whale surfaced just nine feet away from the ship’s bow! What a view! Off in the distance we saw a humpback whale blowing (probably the calf’s bereft mother). Lots of magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, laughing gulls, sandwich, royal and Caspian terns were flying over the whales, probably to catch parts of the carcass. After an hour and a half of watching this incredible spectacle just a few feet from the ship we continued on our way and left the orcas to their own devices. We were delayed for our program, but none of us minded, as we could not have asked for a greater treat!
Later on in the afternoon, we disembarked at Curu Wildlife Refuge, a tropical dry forest area. And just to end the day in style: scarlet macaws, white-throated magpie jays, black-headed trogons, bare-throated tiger heron, ringed kingfisher, great egret as well as mantled howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys and a spider monkey!
This morning we disembarked on Espadilla beach, at Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the smallest protected areas of the Costa Ricas National Park system. This park protects 3 beaches and their surrounding marine life as well as a second growth rain forest that offers excellent probabilities for mammal viewing. The options for this morning were a short walk along the sloth valley trail and an interpretative walk on Cathedral Point. Both trails were generous with their sightings: we saw 6 brown-throated three-toed sloths, including a female with her baby, and two Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths. And sloths were not our only treat! A troop of mantled howler monkeys distracted us for several minutes as we watched the babies trying their first movements up on branches. Reptiles were also present: a nice male Jesus Christ lizard and several Ctenosaurs or black iguanas.
We returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch, and a delicious paella was served. Most of us were enjoying dessert when, in the distance, we spotted a pod of killer whales or orcas from the back of the ship! It was incredible! Three Orcas (a male and two females) were actively feasting on the calf of a humpback whale. The killer whale is the largest member of the dolphin family and is a versatile predator with one of the most varied diets of all cetaceans. It is seen more often in cooler waters than in the tropics and subtropics. We watched them for more than an hour as they kept coming up to breath, and every once in a while the male would bring the calf carcass up to the surface. At one point, this magnificent male killer whale surfaced just nine feet away from the ship’s bow! What a view! Off in the distance we saw a humpback whale blowing (probably the calf’s bereft mother). Lots of magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, laughing gulls, sandwich, royal and Caspian terns were flying over the whales, probably to catch parts of the carcass. After an hour and a half of watching this incredible spectacle just a few feet from the ship we continued on our way and left the orcas to their own devices. We were delayed for our program, but none of us minded, as we could not have asked for a greater treat!
Later on in the afternoon, we disembarked at Curu Wildlife Refuge, a tropical dry forest area. And just to end the day in style: scarlet macaws, white-throated magpie jays, black-headed trogons, bare-throated tiger heron, ringed kingfisher, great egret as well as mantled howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys and a spider monkey!
