Coiba. Sunday, February 27th 2005

La Isla de Coiba is the largest island in the Central American Pacific – approximately three times the size of Manhattan, or twenty times larger than Coco´s – and only 12 miles off the coast of Panama. It is the site of the Central Pacific´s most extensive coral reef system; a feeding and calving ground … Read more

Golfito, briefly. Saturday, February 26th 2005

We’re back in Golfito for a few days to restock, shower, and get information about Cocos Island out to the wider world. Today we held a joint Oceana/MarViva press conference at the MarViva base. A bus brought the audience of journalists and cameramen from San Jose. Xavier told the story of Cocos, which by now … Read more

Open ocean and a sea turtle. Friday, February 25th 2005

Back on the water again. Each morning I wake up at 6, forget I´m sleeping in a bunk and bang my head when I sit up. It was hard to leave Cocos but good to be moving, and there is much ahead. Yesterday we passed a sea turtle. It is the first I´ve seen and … Read more

Leaving Cocos, and trophic levels in action. Thursday, February 24th 2005

We left Cocos. We sailed northeast with the island behind us, gorgeous, streaming water as if it had just lifted itself from the sea. The clouds pile above it. On the way out we pass another longliner coming in. This is the second we’ve seen since we’ve been at the island. The first had pled … Read more

Day 3 at Cocos. Wednesday, February 23th 2005

This afternoon the filming crew took a break and the other divers onboard the Ranger — writers and support crew — went out to Manuelita. I don’tt know where to start. It was late in the afternoon when we left. The sky was dark and the surface of the water breaking in swells and whitecaps. … Read more

Day 2 at Cocos. Thursday, February 22th 2005

More filming today. At nine in the morning we are on a MarViva boat, speeding out of the bay and around to the other side of the island. This boat is smaller and more mobile than the Ranger, larger and more stable than our little dingies, and MarViva has offered to transport the diving team … Read more

Day 1 at Cocos Island. Monday, February 21th 2005

Cocos Island: A series of islands, really, one massive and countless miniature peaks that rise from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The main island is cloaked in forest. The smaller islets, of which there are many, all around the island, are little pyramids of jagged rock. Most have at least one hollowed-out cavern at … Read more

Arrival at Cocos Island. Sunday, February 20th 2005

We’re here! We are at Cocos. We first saw the island, a gray splotch on the horizon, yesterday morning, and by the afternoon we could see its rocky crags, the lush green hills, and two MarViva boats anchored in the bay. Everyone was excited. We had Juan Pablo (director of VOEA and one of Ranger‘s … Read more

Morning watch. Friday, February 18th 2005

We left Golfito last night around 7 and have been traveling southwest toward Cocos ever since. The ocean has been perfectly calm. Those among the new crew who have never spent more than an afternoon sailing (myself included) are learning what it means to live on a boat from the seasoned sailing veterans of the … Read more

The Ranger arrives. Thursday, February 17th 2005

The Ranger is here! She arrived yesterday. Everything has been crazy since — people running around buying supplies, fixing engines, finding old friends — and we’re leaving for Cocos tonight. I’m more excited than I can write. We (Xavier, myself, and some of the MarViva crew) went out to meet the Ranger yesterday morning in … Read more