Author’s Note: Costa Rica is a signatory in the Panama Declaration of 1995 -the “dolphin-safe treaty.” The declaration and its updates can be reviewed at the European Union’s Treaties Office Database , where it can be found as the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP).

According to an online petition started by Shawn Larkin on change.org:

“Dolphin superpods and much more are being decimated in Costa Rica to net tuna. They need their most crucial superpods waters offshore of the Osa peninsula declared a park to stop the nets in a least one small part of their home. They currently have no significant part of their range that is not netted on an industrial scale. This is easily done by linking the tiny marine protected areas around Corcovado National Park and Cano Island Biological Reserve with the dolphin, whale, shark, turtle, and billfish critical habitat that lies over the Osa continental shelf dropoff. This marine hotspot park would seed the rest of Pacific Costa Rica with Cetaceans, turtles and big fish forever.”

The petition currently has almost 1,100 signatures, and it is addressed to President Laura Chinchilla. Shawn Larkin is involved with Costa Cetacea, an ecotourism provider in the Osa peninsula that specializes in dolphin adventures.

Change.org is designed to allow individuals to easily create and manage petitions, gather signatures, ask for support from like-minded individuals, and raise awareness about activism issues. The site serves as a platform for grassroots campaigns.

Other petitions related to Costa Rica on change.org include “Prevent the Electrocution of Costa Rican Wildlife”, an issue that The Costa Rica Star has previously written about, and which has the most signatures: 4,868. A petition to Ban Shark Finning and Fishing in Costa Rica has gathered 1,285 signatures, while a petition to Implement Hate Crimes Legislation Worldwide has 291 supporters.