Coiba Island National Park, Panama
At sunrise, the ship was dropping anchor off Coiba Island as we were getting prepared for our first excursion in Panama. Some of us were kayaking in a shallow and calm bay with some mangroves and coral formations, and another part of the group took a bird watching walk in the grounds of the ranger station. We found the Coiba agouti, an endemic rodent that has been isolated from the population of Central American agouti of the main land long enough to become a separate species. We saw some other spectacular birds, such as the barred antshrike, the garden emerald, a hummingbird that delighted us with its intense green and impressive wing beats, the crimson backed tanager with its bright red plumage and silver bill, and the red legged honeycreeper and its striking iridescent blue. It was enough wildlife for a day as we were coming back on board for breakfast.
We still had a wonderful morning of snorkeling ahead of us in one of the healthiest and largest coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific. Hawksbill turtles did not seem to care too much about our presence in their sanctuary, and neither did the white tipped reef sharks of our intrusion into their domains. Super male rainbow wrasse, moorish idols, king angelfish, bicolored parrotfish and some reef crabs offered an unreal array of colors. Just as we thought that the snorkeling experience had finished, we realized that we were swimming amongst millions of nearly invisible fish in the shallowest waters.
The afternoon at sea met some rain and the opportunity to watch pantropical spotted dolphins. At the wonderful slide show, we could listen to our great guest lecturer, Jorge Cortes, PhD in Oceanography, to better understand coral reefs.
At sunrise, the ship was dropping anchor off Coiba Island as we were getting prepared for our first excursion in Panama. Some of us were kayaking in a shallow and calm bay with some mangroves and coral formations, and another part of the group took a bird watching walk in the grounds of the ranger station. We found the Coiba agouti, an endemic rodent that has been isolated from the population of Central American agouti of the main land long enough to become a separate species. We saw some other spectacular birds, such as the barred antshrike, the garden emerald, a hummingbird that delighted us with its intense green and impressive wing beats, the crimson backed tanager with its bright red plumage and silver bill, and the red legged honeycreeper and its striking iridescent blue. It was enough wildlife for a day as we were coming back on board for breakfast.
We still had a wonderful morning of snorkeling ahead of us in one of the healthiest and largest coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific. Hawksbill turtles did not seem to care too much about our presence in their sanctuary, and neither did the white tipped reef sharks of our intrusion into their domains. Super male rainbow wrasse, moorish idols, king angelfish, bicolored parrotfish and some reef crabs offered an unreal array of colors. Just as we thought that the snorkeling experience had finished, we realized that we were swimming amongst millions of nearly invisible fish in the shallowest waters.
The afternoon at sea met some rain and the opportunity to watch pantropical spotted dolphins. At the wonderful slide show, we could listen to our great guest lecturer, Jorge Cortes, PhD in Oceanography, to better understand coral reefs.
