Barro Colorado Island and the Gatun Locks, Panama Canal
Our day’s story centers on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), a 1500 hectare island isolated from the surrounding mainland between 1910 and 1914 when the Chagres River was dammed to form the central part of the Panama Canal. BCI was declared a reserve in 1923 and has been administered by the Smithsonian Institute since 1946. In the mid 1960’s, BCI became one of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s most important research sites. This spot has been attracting biologists since the beginning of the century and is now one of the best-studied tracts of tropical forests in the world. We had the chance to roam its trails or its waters. Some of us decided to follow some of the trails in the complicated net of footpaths the island contains. Up and down the slopes we went trying to track animals and looking at plants and somewhat bizarre artifacts scientists leave along the paths. Tracking towers, leaf-collecting nets, mist nets, and many other clever devices used by the researchers to answer simple or complicated questions, which will in the end, help us understand our living world a little better. Others chose to take a Zodiac cruise along the edges of the island to look for the same things, without the possibilities of chiggers or ticks!
We came back on board to wait for our third pilot! He would help us finish our two day transit through the eighth wonder of the modern world: the Panama Canal. We spent the night on the Gatun Lake, and as we were anchored outside of BCI, he took us towards our Northern bound journey. As we crossed the final three chambers of the Canal, we could only think of what a fantastic week we had spent on board this small ship, the Sea Voyager, our home away from home, which had given us a warm tropical welcome only six days ago.
Our day’s story centers on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), a 1500 hectare island isolated from the surrounding mainland between 1910 and 1914 when the Chagres River was dammed to form the central part of the Panama Canal. BCI was declared a reserve in 1923 and has been administered by the Smithsonian Institute since 1946. In the mid 1960’s, BCI became one of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s most important research sites. This spot has been attracting biologists since the beginning of the century and is now one of the best-studied tracts of tropical forests in the world. We had the chance to roam its trails or its waters. Some of us decided to follow some of the trails in the complicated net of footpaths the island contains. Up and down the slopes we went trying to track animals and looking at plants and somewhat bizarre artifacts scientists leave along the paths. Tracking towers, leaf-collecting nets, mist nets, and many other clever devices used by the researchers to answer simple or complicated questions, which will in the end, help us understand our living world a little better. Others chose to take a Zodiac cruise along the edges of the island to look for the same things, without the possibilities of chiggers or ticks!
We came back on board to wait for our third pilot! He would help us finish our two day transit through the eighth wonder of the modern world: the Panama Canal. We spent the night on the Gatun Lake, and as we were anchored outside of BCI, he took us towards our Northern bound journey. As we crossed the final three chambers of the Canal, we could only think of what a fantastic week we had spent on board this small ship, the Sea Voyager, our home away from home, which had given us a warm tropical welcome only six days ago.
