Pacheca and Bartolome Islands, Pearl Island Archipelago
A calm sail of just a few hours had us waking up next to the islands of Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands, the two most northern points of land considered part of the Archipelago of the Pearl Islands.
The bay of Panama is considered one of the richest fishing grounds because of the up-welling of nutrient-rich material combined with strong tropical sunlight providing the perfect ingredients for the growth of marine life. Sea birds find this an irresistible combination themselves, and on these islands with few predators have established large colonies of brown pelicans, brown and blue-footed boobies and Neotropical cormorants. Striated herons, bare-throated tiger herons, yellow-crowned night herons also have found a place along the shoreline, occasionally sharing trees along the cliffsides with large green iguanas who bask in the sunlight of the early morning.
During the Zodiac adventure, some rays and turtles were spotted, one in particular who caught our attention. A small (but not necessarily young) Olive Ridley marine turtle was seen to have been caught up in a filamentous plastic sack, worn to shreds with the passage of time (how long we have no idea). As soon as we had a chance, the staff and mariners set out prepared to liberate the turtle from the sack, and were successful, despite finding out that the entangled turtle had been slowed down in its movements sufficiently to allow an infestation of leaches to take place. As the released turtle swam swiftly away into the depths, we can only hope that cleaner fish will restore the long-lived individual to a healthier state over time.
The afternoon was spent enjoying an idyllic beach of white coralline sand where most of us chose to swim, and many did so with mask and snorkel. The water was clear enough to see heads of various genera of coral as well as some colorful fish: rainbow wrasse, blue-chinned parrotfish, King Angelfish, Cortez Angelfish, chubs, damselfish, butterfly fish and many, many more.
A great start to a promising week of adventuring in the Eastern Pacific of Central America.
A calm sail of just a few hours had us waking up next to the islands of Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands, the two most northern points of land considered part of the Archipelago of the Pearl Islands.
The bay of Panama is considered one of the richest fishing grounds because of the up-welling of nutrient-rich material combined with strong tropical sunlight providing the perfect ingredients for the growth of marine life. Sea birds find this an irresistible combination themselves, and on these islands with few predators have established large colonies of brown pelicans, brown and blue-footed boobies and Neotropical cormorants. Striated herons, bare-throated tiger herons, yellow-crowned night herons also have found a place along the shoreline, occasionally sharing trees along the cliffsides with large green iguanas who bask in the sunlight of the early morning.
During the Zodiac adventure, some rays and turtles were spotted, one in particular who caught our attention. A small (but not necessarily young) Olive Ridley marine turtle was seen to have been caught up in a filamentous plastic sack, worn to shreds with the passage of time (how long we have no idea). As soon as we had a chance, the staff and mariners set out prepared to liberate the turtle from the sack, and were successful, despite finding out that the entangled turtle had been slowed down in its movements sufficiently to allow an infestation of leaches to take place. As the released turtle swam swiftly away into the depths, we can only hope that cleaner fish will restore the long-lived individual to a healthier state over time.
The afternoon was spent enjoying an idyllic beach of white coralline sand where most of us chose to swim, and many did so with mask and snorkel. The water was clear enough to see heads of various genera of coral as well as some colorful fish: rainbow wrasse, blue-chinned parrotfish, King Angelfish, Cortez Angelfish, chubs, damselfish, butterfly fish and many, many more.
A great start to a promising week of adventuring in the Eastern Pacific of Central America.
