From January 26 to February 6, 2026, OFI Chief Scientist Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza led an underwater camera survey across Costa Rica’s eastern tropical Pacific. The team sampled waters in Cocos Island National Park, along the Cocos Ridge seamounts, and near Isla del Caño off Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast.
30 camera deployments · 30 hours of footage · 7 species recorded
What the cameras recorded
The team used baited remote underwater video (BRUV) to observe wildlife in open water. Each drifting camera recorded for one hour at a depth of six meters. Researchers reviewed the footage to identify tiger, silky, Galápagos and silvertip sharks, along with pelagic stingrays, Indo-Pacific sailfish and Mexican barracuda.
The survey recorded which species appeared in protected and adjacent offshore waters. Researchers observed animals on camera without handling or tagging them during the survey.
A manta ray encounter
In separate tagging work in Costa Rica, the team tagged three manta rays. Mikki filmed one of them underwater. Tags help researchers follow where individual animals travel and which areas they return to over time.
Photos from the 2026 Cocos to Osa expedition
Banner photo: Scalloped hammerhead at Cocos Island, from the OFI archive. Photo by Klara Fejer.