Barro Colorado Island, The Panama Canal
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island (or BCI) is one of, if not the, premiere tropical ecology research station in the world. Located in Gatun Lake near the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal, this island has been studied intensively for more than three quarters of a century. Sea Voyager is the only passenger vessel granted permission to visit BCI.
Dr. Egbert Lee, a researcher at BCI, joined us for breakfast and then gave a talk about the history of this facility. We then went on our exploratory walks and Zodiacs with our own naturalists and also researchers from BCI. As hoped for, we had numerous interesting sightings – howler and capuchin monkeys, snail kites, poison dart frogs, long-nosed bats, American crocodiles, keel-billed toucan, and much more.
Our Panama Canal pilot boarded during lunch and we made our way into the navigational channel, heading towards the final set of locks for our transit, the Gatun locks. Just before entering, a few capybaras were spotted along the shore. These are the largest rodents in the world. We spent the late afternoon descending eighty-five feet to sea level as we passed through the three locks that comprise the Gatun system. We were joined in the locks by the tug Culebra which was transporting a lock gate to a dry dock for maintenance.
Another beautiful sunset, the last of our voyage, led to a festive farewell dinner.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island (or BCI) is one of, if not the, premiere tropical ecology research station in the world. Located in Gatun Lake near the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal, this island has been studied intensively for more than three quarters of a century. Sea Voyager is the only passenger vessel granted permission to visit BCI.
Dr. Egbert Lee, a researcher at BCI, joined us for breakfast and then gave a talk about the history of this facility. We then went on our exploratory walks and Zodiacs with our own naturalists and also researchers from BCI. As hoped for, we had numerous interesting sightings – howler and capuchin monkeys, snail kites, poison dart frogs, long-nosed bats, American crocodiles, keel-billed toucan, and much more.
Our Panama Canal pilot boarded during lunch and we made our way into the navigational channel, heading towards the final set of locks for our transit, the Gatun locks. Just before entering, a few capybaras were spotted along the shore. These are the largest rodents in the world. We spent the late afternoon descending eighty-five feet to sea level as we passed through the three locks that comprise the Gatun system. We were joined in the locks by the tug Culebra which was transporting a lock gate to a dry dock for maintenance.
Another beautiful sunset, the last of our voyage, led to a festive farewell dinner.
