Bona and Otoque Islands, Panama
Today we had our first day in the Pacific Ocean discovered in 1513 by Balboa, when he cross the Isthmus of Panama. We dropped anchor near the island of Bona, one small island of the many that are located in the Gulf of Panama. It was an incredible place to see seabirds, the island being an important seabird colony for this region in the Eastern Pacific. During the morning we had a chance to watch these amazing birds as we explored the shoreline of the island and surrounding islets in Zodiac tours, and many were in the process of raising chicks, white, downy head sticking up out of the greenery every now and then along the coast. We had great looks at magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, brown pelicans and the famous blue-footed boobies.
The reason we have big numbers of sea birds nesting here is because of the richness of the waters of the gulf. Thanks to the easterly trade winds crossing the land, the resulting upwelling is produced by the replacement of the warm surface waters by cold waters from the bottom, very rich in nutrients. These supply the ideal conditions for plankton growth, which at the same time provides the food for small marine organisms and fish. These in turn become food for larger fish, marine mammals and the sea birds residing in this rich region.
In the first picture is a group of pelicans that not only use the sea for fishing, but also for their morning shower. The brown pelicans are the only truly marine species of all the eight species of pelicans worldwide. In the second picture we have a group of frigatebird chicks sitting in the tree waiting for their mother to get them something to eat. These birds depend on their parents for about eight months and then the male leaves, and the juvenile remains dependent on the female for fourteen months more… one of the longest periods of dependency in birds.
The rest of the day we spent cruising, getting our snorkel gear, and watching some dolphins bow riding while sailing west to Coiba island our next stop.
