We are the first ocean and volunteer center in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, focused on marine mammal monitoring and protection of Santa Elena Bay and its underwater ecosystem.
Find out moreWe are the first ocean and volunteer center in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, focused on marine mammal monitoring and protection of Santa Elena Bay and its underwater ecosystem.
Our key activity is the monitoring of humpback whales in the IMMA breeding zone from Salinas Bay to Papagayo Bay.
This area is a destination for migrating humpback whales, which arrive between July and March to mate, give birth and raise their young before their oceanic journey back to Antarctica (Southern population) and California (Central American population). Our goal is to monitor them, protect their environment and rescue them in case they get stuck on the coast or in fishing nets.
This task will be carried out by our Marine Mammals Rescue Team - Santa Elena Bay from 2024.
We monitor whales and dolphins in cooperation with marine biologist Frank Garita, who has been studying marine mammals for more than 20 years.
We are a field team that not only operates on the ocean with the monitoring ship The Spartan, but also under the sea surface with the help of divers. The monitoring of whales and dolphins will serve international marine biological research, for their protection and also for educational purposes.
Our priority is to save Santa Elena Bay from the threat of the construction of a cargo port , which would endanger the life and reproduction of long-finned humpback whales in this area and beyond.
The Blue Life Ocean and Information Center serves the education of children, youth and the general public, and is the base for volunteer programs and the Marine Mammals Rescue Team.
The center can also be visited as part of ecotourism programs with the option of accommodation and participation in the Eye of the Ocean monitoring program.
and get involved in more activities besides the protection of the ocean …
Find Out MoreThe MMRT-SEB is created to monitor, protect and, if necessary, rescue marine mammals in the IMMA San Juan del Sur (Important Marine Mammals Area) protection and reproduction zone. Read More