JANUARY 05, 2007

COFFEE Cup: These flags from around the world represent the countries of the 128 young tennis players competing in the Copa del Café, or Coffee Cup, which wraps up Saturday at the Costa Rican Country Club in Escazú, west of San José.

BOUND For Better: Paulette Barrantes, 17, was transferred yesterday by ambulance from her home to a private jet to fly her to the United States for specialized medical treatment. Paulette has been bedridden for two years, struggling with the effects of a rare bacterial infection that left her with open wounds over 50% of her body. Thanks to a joint effort by doctors, friends and medical companies, Paulette will receive treatment at a Shriners Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio for the next year.

Costa Rican health authorities Wednesday launched a campaign aimed at vaccinating 290,000 people at risk for catching the flu virus, including the elderly and children, according to Isabel Fernández, Social Security System (Caja) immunization director.

The Chamber of Industries yesterday released a statement expressing its concern over a request by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to hike tariffs for electricity.

Waves swelling up to 20 feet during the past couple of days have led the National Emergency Commission (CNE) to declare a green, preventive alert for the Caribbean and northern Pacific coasts, according to a statement from the commission.

Flu Vaccination Campaign Under Way

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Costa Rican health authorities Wednesday launched a campaign aimed at vaccinating 290,000 people at risk for catching the flu virus, including the elderly and children, according to Isabel Fernández, Social Security System (Caja) immunization director.

The Caja has paired up with the Public Health Ministry to offer flu vaccinations to all adults ages 65 and older and to children ages six months to 8 years who have lung or heart conditions that predispose them to catching the flu. The groups are also at risk for contracting pneumonia and other respiratory diseases that can result from a case of the flu.

Those who qualify for vaccinations may receive them at clinics in their area. However, the shots for children ages 3 and under are not yet available because authorities have not received them from the Pan-American Health Organization, Fernández said. These shots will likely be here in March, and the $2 million campaign will run through May.

This is the fourth annual flu vaccination campaign that has been carried out in Costa Rica, and the Caja hopes to continue it every year, according to Fernández.

Electricity Tariff Increase
Request Worries Business Chamber

The Chamber of Industries yesterday released a statement expressing its concern over a request by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to hike tariffs for electricity.

ICE presented the request to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) on Dec. 22, just hours before the office closed for the holidays, reported the daily La Nación. Electricity tariffs for residences would increase 18.21%, while businesses would pay an additional 15.36%.

The chamber is “highly worried” that there is a discrepancy between this increase and Costa Rica's inflation rate and that “an increase this high would affect the cost of industrial projects in the country,” said its president Jack Liberman, according to the statement. Inflation this year reached a 14-year low of 9.43%.

The chamber also fears the increase could drive up the price of export production, making Costa Rica less competitive on the international market.

ICE spokeswoman Geovanni Bonilla told La Nación the increase would barely cover the rising costs of operation and investments, which have been affected by inflation and the devaluation of the colón.

ARESEP has three months from the time it received the request to approve or deny it, according to la Nación.

-Tico Times

Strong Waves Rise in Caribbean and Northern Pacific

Waves swelling up to 20 feet during the past couple of days have led the National Emergency Commission (CNE) to declare a green, preventive alert for the Caribbean and northern Pacific coasts, according to a statement from the commission.

According to data from the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), winds up to 37 kilometers per hour have caused these powerful waves, which could persist through Saturday.

The CNE is working with the Atlantic Port Authority (JAPDEVA) to ensure the safety of ships docking at the Caribbean port of Limón, and the commission also recommends that those visiting beaches in the Caribbean and northern Pacific use extra caution as strong winds are creating not only giant waves, but also strong undercurrents.

-Tico Times

Soccer Federation President Resigns

After spending only four months in the position, Costa Rican Soccer Federation president Walter Niehaus yesterday resigned, citing friction between him and some of the officials who offered him the job.

Niehaus explained in a letter posted on the federation's Web site that he is “leaving the house in order” and that he is stepping down because some of the authorities who selected him to fill the spot have since changed their opinion of him.

Niehaus did not offer further details about his leaving but said he found the federation's administration in “apocalyptic disorder” that he was unable to repair.

Local media reported that two of the country's soccer teams, Saprissa and La Liga, have asked that Niehaus step down because of his repeated absences at meetings of the executive committee.

Niehaus, a former Tourism Minister, took over the presidency for Hermes Navarro, who was not reelected after Costa Rica lost the three games it played at the World Cup in Germany last June.

Surfers from around Costa Rica will take to the waters of Jacó, in the central Pacific, this weekend to compete in the Fourth National Surf Circuit, according to a statement from the Costa Rican Surf Federation.

The tournament, called the Copa Mango, or Mango Cup, has several divisions including Open, Women's bodyboard, Master, Longboard and Junior divisions for boys and girls.

Natalie Bernold, from the beach town of Santa Cruz, in the northwestern Guanacaste province, is out to win the competition for the fourth time, according to the statement. This 13-year-old surfer holds first place in Costa Rica in the Junior female division with 1,000 points, thanks to her victories at tournaments in Boca Barranca, near the Pacific port city of Puntarenas, and Tamarindo, in the northwestern Guanacaste province, this year.

“Even though the wave conditions at Jacó are very different than those at Tamarindo where I always train, I think it's very likely that I'll return to Tamarindo with a victory,” Bernold said.

Surfers who want to enter the Mango Cup can do so today at Mango Surf & Skate in Jacó from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. The tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday in front of Copacabana hotel.

-Tico Times

If you want to know what it feels like to be small, take a dive in Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean. Really, the Pacific is where the wild things are. Big wild things such as sharks and rays and other fish that weigh more than you do. While Costa Rica is perhaps most famous for its biodiversity, the big-school-and- predator productivity of the Pacific is just as impressive.

True, there are not as many species in Costa Rica's Pacific as in other places in the world, but the sheer numbers of some groups of the same species are just as awe-inspiring. Fish schools that number in the thousands seem to support a few predators of very large proportions. But schools, or shoals, of fish that number in the millions support many large predators. And many large predators, from plankton eaters to meat eaters, swim with divers in Costa Rica's Pacific waters. Rays provide some classic examples.

Size Matters on the Pacific: a diver keeps a safe distance from a stingray.

Photos by Shawn Larkin | Tico Times

Manta rays feed in the open water on tiny animals known as plankton that drift with the currents. The giant manta grows to be among the largest of Costa Rica's fish – just one would probably fill any room in your house.

Mantas in Costa Rica school in enormous numbers. The flapping groups can seem to be the size of a small island. When they school in groups, they also leap from the water in what could be a sort of mating dance. Often, several at a time will fly like popcorn from the water, flapping like huge bats, before splashing back down into the water. Maybe, with a few million years of evolution, they will learn to fly!

On the sandy bottoms of the Pacific coast, large numbers of stingrays gather at certain times of the year. Stingrays do not swim through the open water like manta rays, but rather hunt along the bottom for fresh fish, eel and crab. Divers need to take care not to swim too close over them, as they can live up to their name. Their famous stingers can be longer than your hand and covered with slimy, nasty bacteria. To avoid the stingray's scorpion-like tail-sting response, shuffle your feet at the beach. If you avoid getting over them, they are unlikely to cause problems. Sometimes the sand can seem covered with these strange beasts.

Orcas make regular stops along the Pacific coast to feed on big prey such as stingrays and manta rays.

Photos by Shawn Larkin | Tico Times

Rays, in turn, are preyed upon by even bigger predators such as hammerhead sharks and orcas. Both stingrays and manta rays appear to be favorites with these large, toothy hunters. Ray congregations may even be the main reason orcas make regulars stops along Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

Pacific diving has been excellent recently by all reports. Sadly for divers, Caribbean diving has all but shut down during the past two months of big surf. With El Niño in effect, the Caribbean will probably remain a surfing paradise until March or April.

For info on diving or to contribute to this report, call 835-6041, e- mail shawn@costacetacea.com or visit www.costacetacea.com.