Appendix Template for Submission of Scientific Information to Describe Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Baja; Pacific; The Beaches; Balaenoptera musculus; Blue whale
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.259.763; http://www.biodiv.org/doc/meetings/mar/ebsa-ettp-01/other/ebsa-ettp-01-costa-rica-01-en.pdf

Note: Please DO NOT embed tables, graphs, figures, photos, or other artwork within the text manuscript, but please send these as separate files. Captions for figures should be included at the end of the text file, however. Title/Name of the area: Costa Rica Dome Presented by (names, affiliations, title, contact details) Abstract (in less than 150 words) The Costa Rica Dome is an area of high primary productivity in the northeastern tropical Pacific, which supports marine predators such as tuna, dolphins, and cetaceans. The endangered leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), which nests on the beaches of Costa Rica, migrates through the area. The Costa Rica Dome provides year-round habitat that is important for the survival and recovery of the endangered blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). The area is of special importance to the life history of a population of the blue whales, which migrate south from Baja California during the winter for breeding, calving, raising calves and feeding.