Bona & Otoque Islands, Bay of Panama, & the Panama Canal
After eighteen hours of navigation through the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, we finally arrived at the southern part of Panama Bay. Here we found a beautiful group of little islands that hold large colonies of seabirds. The birds found this piece of paradise long ago, and fell in love with it, like we did. Otoque and Bona are located strategically in an upwelling zone, where the warm waters that come from the top meet the cold waters from the bottom. This makes the bay have an immense amount of nutrients; thereby supporting a great deal of sea life. These fishes in turn support the colonies of magnificent frigatebird, brown boobies, brown pelican, and the famous blue-footed boobies. We were fortunate to be here during the beginning of the mating season! The male magnificent frigatebirds were in their full courting display and brown boobies were with their newly hatched chicks.
Next we headed further north in the Panama Bay to meet the pilot, who will take us through the first stage of the canal crossing. After a pleasant evening through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks, we dropped anchor at Gatun Lake near Barro Colorado Island, awaiting the next morning’s adventure.
After eighteen hours of navigation through the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, we finally arrived at the southern part of Panama Bay. Here we found a beautiful group of little islands that hold large colonies of seabirds. The birds found this piece of paradise long ago, and fell in love with it, like we did. Otoque and Bona are located strategically in an upwelling zone, where the warm waters that come from the top meet the cold waters from the bottom. This makes the bay have an immense amount of nutrients; thereby supporting a great deal of sea life. These fishes in turn support the colonies of magnificent frigatebird, brown boobies, brown pelican, and the famous blue-footed boobies. We were fortunate to be here during the beginning of the mating season! The male magnificent frigatebirds were in their full courting display and brown boobies were with their newly hatched chicks.
Next we headed further north in the Panama Bay to meet the pilot, who will take us through the first stage of the canal crossing. After a pleasant evening through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks, we dropped anchor at Gatun Lake near Barro Colorado Island, awaiting the next morning’s adventure.
