Barro Colorado Island & the Panama Canal
Our expedition began last night, when upon arrival at the National Geographic Sea Lion, we immediately started the crossing of the first half of the Panama Canal. Our ship was docked at Cristobal, the port in Colon on the Caribbean Coast of Panama, and as soon as we were all on board, we started the crossing of the Gatun Locks. This is the one set of locks found in Gatun Lake, made of three chambers which would lift us from sea level to 85 feet up into the lake.
Today, our day began early and anchored outside of Barro Colorado Island (BCI), which would be our morning’s site. Located about eight miles south of Gatun Locks, this largest of the lake islands is an important living laboratory for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Previously only scientists or science students were allowed in the island’s many trails, but nowadays, tour operators take visitors on day trips along them. Lindblad Expeditions though, is the only cruise ship that takes its guests onto the island. We had three options for the morning. Two took us through the island’s Fausto and Donato trails – medium and long walks – and the third one took us on Zodiac cruises following the island’s shore.
All of our activities paid well. Some of us got good views of spider, white throated capuchins and howler monkeys, slaty-tailed trogons, slaty antshrikes, spotted antbirds, golden orb spider, and many more. However, the star of the day for many of us was the female American crocodile watching her nest. Towards the middle or end of the dry season, female Crocodilus acutus (crocodilian scientific name) deposit their eggs into a shallow nest excavated near the water. She tends to stay near her nest possibly to defend it from predators. The eggs hatch roughly two to three months later. Before emerging, the hatchlings start calling from inside the nest to attract their mother’s attention. She opens the nest with the front feet and gently helps her offspring leave the nest. What is even more interesting is that the sex of these hatchlings is not determined genetically, but instead is influenced by the temperature of the eggs during incubation.
After our excursions through BCI, our ship weighed anchor and we moved towards the Culebra or Gaillard Cut, through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. This final part of the Panama Canal transit will finally have us cross the path between the seas and bring us into the Pacific Ocean or the Southern Sea.
