oceans

Nicaragua accused Colombia of openly defying judges at the UN's top court in a bitter decades-long legal battle over maritime borders.

Costa Rica is among the 10 lead countries of the ocean conservation project.

A total of 135 beaches along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts are displaying blue flags this week to let visitors know that their sands and waters are among the country's cleanest.

A Costa Rican marine scientist hits her stride as a leader.

Donors at www.4amigos.org can contribute to a fund that supports a group of leading marine organizations in Costa Rica.

Three beaches will display blue flags with the maximum of five stars for the next 12 months, all of them on the Pacific coast.

The Costa Rican government angered conservationists Friday when it declined to vote on whether to list two shark species as needing protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

A total of 110 beaches along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts are displaying blue flags this week to let visitors know that their sands and waters are among the country's cleanest.

More than 300 whales have been found washed up in a remote inlet in Patagonia in southern Chile in one of the largest die-offs on record, researchers said Tuesday.

Costa Rica is seen as a leader in ocean protection, despite the country's recent wobbling on shark conservation and sustainable fishing regulations.