Panama Bay & the Panama Canal
Today we cruised the Gulf of Panama on our way to the Panama Canal, fighting our way against a strong wind coming from the east and slowing our speed.
These are none other than the trade winds. Yes, the same ones that carried Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean to the discovery of the New World. These strong winds that blow from North to South and East to West all year round come loaded with humidity to the east coast of Central America, nourishing the evergreen tropical rain forests that we are used to seeing in movies. However, at this time of the year they are strong enough to blow across the mountains and leave all their humidity on the Atlantic side. Yet they still have the strength to cross into the Pacific side and trigger the dry season in Central America. In some very specific low passes like the Gulf of Panama, the mountain range is so low that the winds blow over the land, pushing the warm waters of the surface of the bay and triggering what is known as upwelling. This is where cold, rich water from the bottom of the sea floor is brought to the surface, starting a chain reaction of life. This causes a blooming of planktonic life that attracts small fish, that in turn attract larger fish and so on and so on.
Today as we sailed by we saw a small sample of this as we were escorted by brown boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, laughing gulls and some dolphins that came to profit from the upwellings in the gulf.
The rest of the afternoon and evening we had a great time seeing and going through the first set of locks of the Panama Canal on the Pacific side. These sets of locks are known as Miraflores and Pedro Miguel. Here the Sea Voyager was raised 87 feet above sea level to start its crossing of the Culebra cut, the most difficult segment in the construction of the Canal.
Today we cruised the Gulf of Panama on our way to the Panama Canal, fighting our way against a strong wind coming from the east and slowing our speed.
These are none other than the trade winds. Yes, the same ones that carried Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean to the discovery of the New World. These strong winds that blow from North to South and East to West all year round come loaded with humidity to the east coast of Central America, nourishing the evergreen tropical rain forests that we are used to seeing in movies. However, at this time of the year they are strong enough to blow across the mountains and leave all their humidity on the Atlantic side. Yet they still have the strength to cross into the Pacific side and trigger the dry season in Central America. In some very specific low passes like the Gulf of Panama, the mountain range is so low that the winds blow over the land, pushing the warm waters of the surface of the bay and triggering what is known as upwelling. This is where cold, rich water from the bottom of the sea floor is brought to the surface, starting a chain reaction of life. This causes a blooming of planktonic life that attracts small fish, that in turn attract larger fish and so on and so on.
Today as we sailed by we saw a small sample of this as we were escorted by brown boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, laughing gulls and some dolphins that came to profit from the upwellings in the gulf.
The rest of the afternoon and evening we had a great time seeing and going through the first set of locks of the Panama Canal on the Pacific side. These sets of locks are known as Miraflores and Pedro Miguel. Here the Sea Voyager was raised 87 feet above sea level to start its crossing of the Culebra cut, the most difficult segment in the construction of the Canal.