Otoque & Bona Islands, Bay of Panama
Birds are the most common vertebrates one see in a visit anywhere. They are active during the day and visually conspicuous. We are not afraid of them and they are able to take off when they feel threatened. Birds are incredibly diverse in shape, from a chunky pelican to a slender heron; in color, from a black vulture to a slaty-tailed trogon; in size, from an ostrich to a hummingbird, and therefore they are the vertebrates that have been able to survive in almost every ecosystem.
Today’s exploration brought us to the incredibly rich waters of the Bay of Panama. After a long night of navigation the Sea Voyager, dropped anchor in the small archipelago of Otoque, Bona and Estiva Islands, 22 nautical miles south of Panama City. Of the three islands, only one of them is inhabited by humans; the other two are overloaded with seabirds.
Why seabirds? Sea birds are those birds who have chosen the marine habitats as their home. They feed on fish, squid, mollusks, and jellyfish, among other marine food, and survive with salt water and sometimes fresh water that they catch in their beaks when it rains. Floating vegetation or ship handrails are great places to rest and when they are ready to breed. The most dry inhospitable rocky islands will do it, as long as the sea waters around are loaded with food.
Mainland Panama lacks the large 10,000-foot mountains that Costa Rica has, and therefore the northeast trade winds are able to blow over the country and sweep the warm surface water away, creating a space for the cold nutrient-rich, but poor in oxygen, water from the bottom to arise. As it reaches the surface, the phyto and zooplankton take the nutrients plus the oxygen and feed on it and feed everybody else, from anchovies, sardines, and mackerels to tunas, dolphins, whales, humans and… sea birds. Today we saw, photographed, heard and smelled – by the hundreds – pelicans, frigates and boobies.
The Magnificent frigate birds have an unmistakable silhouette, with an 85-inch wingspan and a red gullar pouch. They are well-known as the pirates of the sky, because they cannot enter salt water to fish, so they either skim the water surface or chase the boobies to steal their fresh catch.
On the other hand, we saw brown boobies with incredible diving skills. They can plunge down from a height of 50 feet and dive as deep as 40 feet. And, last but not least, we also saw brown pelicans, which are the only pelicans among the nine species worldwide that actually dive from the air.
After a great Zodiac cruise around these bird rookeries, we lifted anchored and began our navigation toward the entrance of the Panama Canal. The evening sunset was the perfect frame to enjoy cocktails and ceviche up on the Sky Deck as the Bridge of the Americas welcomed us to one of human’s wonders and the skyline of Panama.
Birds are the most common vertebrates one see in a visit anywhere. They are active during the day and visually conspicuous. We are not afraid of them and they are able to take off when they feel threatened. Birds are incredibly diverse in shape, from a chunky pelican to a slender heron; in color, from a black vulture to a slaty-tailed trogon; in size, from an ostrich to a hummingbird, and therefore they are the vertebrates that have been able to survive in almost every ecosystem.
Today’s exploration brought us to the incredibly rich waters of the Bay of Panama. After a long night of navigation the Sea Voyager, dropped anchor in the small archipelago of Otoque, Bona and Estiva Islands, 22 nautical miles south of Panama City. Of the three islands, only one of them is inhabited by humans; the other two are overloaded with seabirds.
Why seabirds? Sea birds are those birds who have chosen the marine habitats as their home. They feed on fish, squid, mollusks, and jellyfish, among other marine food, and survive with salt water and sometimes fresh water that they catch in their beaks when it rains. Floating vegetation or ship handrails are great places to rest and when they are ready to breed. The most dry inhospitable rocky islands will do it, as long as the sea waters around are loaded with food.
Mainland Panama lacks the large 10,000-foot mountains that Costa Rica has, and therefore the northeast trade winds are able to blow over the country and sweep the warm surface water away, creating a space for the cold nutrient-rich, but poor in oxygen, water from the bottom to arise. As it reaches the surface, the phyto and zooplankton take the nutrients plus the oxygen and feed on it and feed everybody else, from anchovies, sardines, and mackerels to tunas, dolphins, whales, humans and… sea birds. Today we saw, photographed, heard and smelled – by the hundreds – pelicans, frigates and boobies.
The Magnificent frigate birds have an unmistakable silhouette, with an 85-inch wingspan and a red gullar pouch. They are well-known as the pirates of the sky, because they cannot enter salt water to fish, so they either skim the water surface or chase the boobies to steal their fresh catch.
On the other hand, we saw brown boobies with incredible diving skills. They can plunge down from a height of 50 feet and dive as deep as 40 feet. And, last but not least, we also saw brown pelicans, which are the only pelicans among the nine species worldwide that actually dive from the air.
After a great Zodiac cruise around these bird rookeries, we lifted anchored and began our navigation toward the entrance of the Panama Canal. The evening sunset was the perfect frame to enjoy cocktails and ceviche up on the Sky Deck as the Bridge of the Americas welcomed us to one of human’s wonders and the skyline of Panama.
