Islands of the Gulf of Panama, Panama
Our second day in Panama promises as many surprises as our first one. Today as we entered the Gulf of Panama, many marine birds greeted us as they followed our vessel. Brown boobies and magnificent frigate birds were the first to appear, as we approached the small group of islands just off the coast of Panama City. At about 22 miles off the mainland lay Boná, Otoque and Estivá Islands; these are some of the smallest but at the same time the richest islands in the area. Rich not in resources, nor in cache; but in wildlife, specifically marine birds.
The Gulf of Panama is influenced by one of the few upwellings that occur in the coasts of the Central American region. An upwelling is defined as the vertical movement of cold, deep, nutrient-rich water to the surface; as chilled water hoists to the surface full of nutrients it creates high productivity. This establishes the base of the food web and in turn supports incredible numbers of larger marine life like fish. These fishes are the base of the food chain for vertebrates in the Gulf and are able to sustain the large numbers of seabirds we have seen today.
Blue-footed and brown boobies, brown pelicans, great egrets, Neotropical cormorants and magnificent frigate birds were the stars of our morning. It is not common to see so many blue-footed boobies in the area, but it is definitively a treat for all of us! As we took a Zodiac cruise around the islands, we could see the tidal change line, the line of barnacles and limpets, and a great number of juvenile Sally-light foot crabs. After the rides, some hard-core explorers ventured onto the white sandy beach for a last swim in the Pacific Ocean.
We weighed anchor and headed finally towards the highlight of everyone’s trip: The Panama Canal. We shall start with the first part of the crossing today: the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks and make our way through the Culebra Cut. As the sun sets on the horizon, we take some pictures of our experience with our cameras; though the most important pictures are the ones we will take within us in our memory.
