Samanta Duarte

At her young age, only eight years old, Samantha Duarte Picado from San Josecito, Uvita, has a clear picture of what is important in her life: the whales. She goes to the local school, and has the full support of her teacher Esther Vindas and her parents Rony and Beatriz. When she grows up, she wants to become a marine biologist, work at the Marino Ballena National Park and sing...

At the Whales Festival in Uvita, in front of a large audience, she dedicated a song to the humpback whales with innate ease. Subsequently, Samantha participated at the Science Fair at San Josecito with a presentation about humpback whales. She crowned her performance with her beautiful song, becoming the winner of the competition. From there on, she continued with her presentations. She participated at the Science Fair at Bahía, and the Regional Fair in San Isidro, winning each contest. In December 2012, at the National University of Costa Rica, she received a nationwide award for the best biology project out of the 200 projects exhibited.

Samantha has established a great support group, in addition to the people previously mentioned; she is very grateful to Frank Garita from Costa Rican Environmental Association, Renate Herberger, who swims in protection of marine sanctuaries, Susana Garcia a marine biologist from Bahía, and Fernando Guerrero, tour operator at the Marino Ballena National Park for their unconditional support.