Otoque and Bona Islands, Panama Bay
Cruising at sunrise near the island of Otoque, we reached Bona, the mind-boggling seabird rookery. Thousands of birds soaring around the island were our first impression as we dropped anchor. On the Zodiacs we could take a closer look to the wonderful nesting bird sanctuary where we saw magnificent frigatebirds, blue-footed boobies, brown boobies, black crowned night herons, brown pelicans, great tailed grackles and peregrine falcons that winter in the area.
The Bay of Panama contains an amazing wealth of fish, due to upwelling of colder, nutrient-rich water flowing north from the Humboldt Current as it meets the Isthmus of Panama. We witnessed the feeding frenzy of the boobies and pelicans and the frigatebirds harassing the boobies to get their catch.
In the afternoon we cruised through the Bay of Panama and around the Peninsula of Azuero on our way to Coiba Island. The waters were loaded with so much nutrients, that we found a red tide of flourishing plankton and a few pan-tropical spotted dolphins.
Cruising at sunrise near the island of Otoque, we reached Bona, the mind-boggling seabird rookery. Thousands of birds soaring around the island were our first impression as we dropped anchor. On the Zodiacs we could take a closer look to the wonderful nesting bird sanctuary where we saw magnificent frigatebirds, blue-footed boobies, brown boobies, black crowned night herons, brown pelicans, great tailed grackles and peregrine falcons that winter in the area.
The Bay of Panama contains an amazing wealth of fish, due to upwelling of colder, nutrient-rich water flowing north from the Humboldt Current as it meets the Isthmus of Panama. We witnessed the feeding frenzy of the boobies and pelicans and the frigatebirds harassing the boobies to get their catch.
In the afternoon we cruised through the Bay of Panama and around the Peninsula of Azuero on our way to Coiba Island. The waters were loaded with so much nutrients, that we found a red tide of flourishing plankton and a few pan-tropical spotted dolphins.
