NO. 2 FRASER : SCIENTIFIC WORK, VELERO III, EASTERN PACIFIC 157 



Elena in Costa Rica, 22 miles, and landward 12 or 13 miles to the head 

 of Salinas Bay or Elena Bay. The Gulf is well named, for the land breeze 

 — papagayo — is prevalent, at least at some seasons of the year, from 

 Corinto, Nicaragua, well down the Costa Rican coast, often getting away 

 beyond the zephyr stage in this region. 



There are three secondary extensions of the Gulf of Papagayo — 

 Salinas Bay, Elena Bay, and Playa Blanca Bay. The shore of Salinas Bay 

 forms a regular curve from Arranca Barba Point at the northwest en- 

 trance to Point Sacate at the southwest entrance. These points are 2% 

 miles apart, and the bay extends landward about 4 miles. The northern 

 shore is high and bold, but the eastern and southern shores consist of 

 sandy beaches separated by low bluffs. Salinas Island is situated not far 

 from the center of the bay. 



There are one shore station in the sandstone on the south shore of the 

 bay and several dredging stations between Salinas Island and the mouth 

 of the bay, in sand or mud, none deeper than 20 fathoms. 



The peninsula between Salinas Bay and Elena Bay has a sea front of 

 2y 4 miles, from Point Sacate to Descarte Point. Elena Bay is wide open 

 to the westward. The north shore extends southeastward for about 5 

 miles ; the head (east shore) , 3% miles across, consists of two smaller sec- 

 ondary bays; and the south shore extends for 11 miles almost directly 

 westward to Punta Blanca, with but one break to form Port Parker, 4% 

 miles from the point. 



Port Parker is an excellent landlocked harbor, but is not large, 2 

 miles long, 1 mile wide. The cliffs that guard the entrance on both sides 

 do not extend to the head of the bay, for from the southern shore sand 

 and mud flats extend outward for some distance. Collecting has been done 

 on the rocky shore of a small island at the entrance of the port, and on 

 the sand beach at the head coral masses have been collected; there are 

 several dredging stations in 2 to 30 fathoms, in mud, sand, and shell. 



Punta Blanca is a long point separating Elena Bay from Playa Blanca 

 Bay. "This bold and striking headland projects to the westward, its 

 rocky sides rising abruptly from the water to the sharp and jagged sum- 

 mit, which, at about a mile within the point, is 681 feet high." 



Playa Blanca Bay is shaped much like Elena Bay, but is not nearly so 

 large. The entrance between Punta Blanca and Cape Elena is 6 miles 

 wide. The north shore to the head of the bay is 2 miles, and the south, or 

 southeast shore, 6 miles. The head of the bay is a sandy beach; the re- 

 mainder of the shore is rocky. There are one shore station in shale, one 



