Pedro Gonzales, Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands, Las Perlas Archipelago
Today we had an easy morning with breakfast at eight, and our arrival to the first destination programmed for ten in the morning. We dedicated our spare time between breakfast and arrival to searching the ocean for wild life. Soon after breakfast we had our first sighting: a spectacular feeding frenzy, of hundreds of brown pelicans. Shortly after the pelicans we saw the first whale of our trip: a Bryde’s whale that surfaced several times alongside the ship.
The Gulf of Panama has a special phenomenon known as upwelling, which results from a combination of the trade winds blowing from the north-east and under water currents, that lift the nutrient rich water from the bottom of the ocean to its surface. The end result is plankton rich water that supplies food to an abundance of fish which in turn feed an abundance of bird life and other wild life including our whale.
In the afternoon we took a Zodiac cruise around Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands. These islands are a bird sanctuary for brown pelicans, magnificent frigate birds, Neotropical cormorants, and brown and blue-footed boobies. The number of birds that make these islands there home, is overwhelming! The island resembles a disturbed beehive from the distance, with all the birds flying around. Once you get closer you begin to observe different interactions between the species. The clepto-parasitism behavior typical of the frigate birds was seen several times this afternoon. This behavior refers to the habit of the frigates of chasing and harassing other birds until they drop their catch or vomit what they have swallowed so that the frigate can feed on the recycled food.
The adjective “magnificent”, which is part of the name of these frigatebirds seems somehow insufficient to explain the beauty and grace of these masters of the air.
Today we had an easy morning with breakfast at eight, and our arrival to the first destination programmed for ten in the morning. We dedicated our spare time between breakfast and arrival to searching the ocean for wild life. Soon after breakfast we had our first sighting: a spectacular feeding frenzy, of hundreds of brown pelicans. Shortly after the pelicans we saw the first whale of our trip: a Bryde’s whale that surfaced several times alongside the ship.
The Gulf of Panama has a special phenomenon known as upwelling, which results from a combination of the trade winds blowing from the north-east and under water currents, that lift the nutrient rich water from the bottom of the ocean to its surface. The end result is plankton rich water that supplies food to an abundance of fish which in turn feed an abundance of bird life and other wild life including our whale.
In the afternoon we took a Zodiac cruise around Pacheca and Pachequilla Islands. These islands are a bird sanctuary for brown pelicans, magnificent frigate birds, Neotropical cormorants, and brown and blue-footed boobies. The number of birds that make these islands there home, is overwhelming! The island resembles a disturbed beehive from the distance, with all the birds flying around. Once you get closer you begin to observe different interactions between the species. The clepto-parasitism behavior typical of the frigate birds was seen several times this afternoon. This behavior refers to the habit of the frigates of chasing and harassing other birds until they drop their catch or vomit what they have swallowed so that the frigate can feed on the recycled food.
The adjective “magnificent”, which is part of the name of these frigatebirds seems somehow insufficient to explain the beauty and grace of these masters of the air.
