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Vancouver to Hilo – day 2 at sea

Oct 3, 2017 – Second day at sea – enroute from Vancouver, BC to Hilo, Hawai’i

Hawai’i Cruise 2017

At Ginny Stibolt’s talk this morning: Rainforest: The Most Diverse Ecosystems in the World, I learn:

  • Photosynthesis and respiration are equal and opposite natural cycles
  • Only about 20% of oxygen produced is supplied freely to outside the rainforest, 80% is consumed internally to the rainforest
  • Forests only temporarily sequester carbon, unlike oceans where carbon is more-or-less permanently sequestered
  • In Borneo, 700 tree species are found in 25 acres
  • 80% of insect species are found in tropical forests
  • Old cellphones are being used in the Amazon to detect the sounds of chainsaws cutting trees, and transmitting reports back to authorities. They are powered from solar panels.
  • Costa Rica is restoring their rain forest by planting at least 15 native species of plants and trees

It is 19ºC at noon today, but when I was outside on Promenade Deck walking four circuits, I was wearing my fleece jacket zipped up because of the cool breeze. I go to the Explorations Cafe at noon for a cappuccino and have a chocolate chip cookie and a couple of little cocktail sandwiches for a lunchtime snack, since I’m skipping having a big lunch today. This afternoon the mv OOCL London container ship sails very close to the Eurodam (see banner image above).

I go to see an hour-long video this afternoon produced by the BBC: Earth Inside Earth: A Privileged View. This is very interesting, highlighting wildlife photographers working in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert in Jordan, with Capuchin monkeys in SE Asia, and with breeding Adela Penguins in Antarctica.

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La Selva Preserve

2008 Costa Rica Southern Skies Fiesta, Volcanos & Rainforest

Feb 11, 2008 – Monday – La Selva Preserve, Sarapiqui Rain Forest, Heredia, Costa Rica

We visit the nearby La Selva Preserve this morning, which is a biological research station focused on the rain forest. Our guide is a bird nesting researcher, so he is very knowledgeable about the many birds we encounter on our nature walk. He also has interesting stories to tell about La Selva itself, as well as the flora and fauna in the preserve. He catches a Blue-black Grassquit to show us the feathers, and we also see a poison dart frog on the forest floor (Oophaga). He calls the birds to us using a portable speaker he drives with a bird song database from Cornell.

Oophaga - poison dart frog on the forest floor

Our guide Diego conducts a walking tour near the hotel this afternoon, but I just want some down time, so I don’t go. It is wonderful to just sit on the deck overlooking the lagoon; watching and listening to the rain come down in showers, and observing the interesting wildlife, which is so close. As I explore the hotel grounds, I also discover some unique features of Sueño Azul Hotel, including high wire acrobatic apparatus, and a horse barn with a riding ring. Then there’s the previously mentioned pedestrian foot bridge across the river, providing guests with their main access to the hotel.

My wildlife spotting list from this amazing tropical area just for yesterday and today reveals an abundant diversity!

Cherrie's tanager perched on a branch in the rainforest