Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal
Our adventure in Central America started last night when we crossed the first half of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal, of approximately 50 miles in length, which unites the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The canal is considered one of the wonders of the world, and without any question, an engineering masterpiece. After crossing the Gatun locks, a set of three locks that raises the ship up to 85 feet above the sea level, we anchored in Gatun lake for a quiet night.
At about 5 am this morning, a Panama Canal pilot boarded the Sea Voyager and repositioned her to an anchorage spot just off Barro Colorado Island (BCI). This lush island was created when the Chagres River was dammed, forming what was then the largest man-made lake in the world. BCI was just another hilltop rising above a richly forested valley, when water rose, creating an island. Its small area (a total of 1500 hectares) and new island conditions made it a natural choice for a laboratory, important in studying both tropical ecology and island biogeography. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), active in the region since the construction of the canal, over 75 years ago. STRI administers a world-renowned research facility here, and was instrumental in making the island and surrounding peninsulas one of the first biological reserves in the New World (founded in 1923) as well as one of the most intensively studies areas in the Tropics—a true Mecca for a tropical ecologist!
All the different groups came back from our rain forest explorations with lots of sightings: red-brocket deer, tamandua (an ant-eater), sloths, mantle howler monkeys, parrots and even a crocodile spotted from the sundeck of the Sea Voyager. All of us were totally drenched by the tropical downpour that caught us in the middle of the trail, and we were able to see how a rain forest really works!
Once back on board, the Smithsonian guides joined us for lunch just before another pilot (it is mandatory to all ships to give the control to the Canal pilot) came aboard to continue our canal transit. It was our third pilot on board, and as we continued our transit we kept hearing the howler monkey’s call coming from the rain forest of the island. The rest of the afternoon was spent sailing toward the Pedro Miguel locks on the Pacific side.
Our adventure in Central America started last night when we crossed the first half of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal, of approximately 50 miles in length, which unites the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The canal is considered one of the wonders of the world, and without any question, an engineering masterpiece. After crossing the Gatun locks, a set of three locks that raises the ship up to 85 feet above the sea level, we anchored in Gatun lake for a quiet night.
At about 5 am this morning, a Panama Canal pilot boarded the Sea Voyager and repositioned her to an anchorage spot just off Barro Colorado Island (BCI). This lush island was created when the Chagres River was dammed, forming what was then the largest man-made lake in the world. BCI was just another hilltop rising above a richly forested valley, when water rose, creating an island. Its small area (a total of 1500 hectares) and new island conditions made it a natural choice for a laboratory, important in studying both tropical ecology and island biogeography. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), active in the region since the construction of the canal, over 75 years ago. STRI administers a world-renowned research facility here, and was instrumental in making the island and surrounding peninsulas one of the first biological reserves in the New World (founded in 1923) as well as one of the most intensively studies areas in the Tropics—a true Mecca for a tropical ecologist!
All the different groups came back from our rain forest explorations with lots of sightings: red-brocket deer, tamandua (an ant-eater), sloths, mantle howler monkeys, parrots and even a crocodile spotted from the sundeck of the Sea Voyager. All of us were totally drenched by the tropical downpour that caught us in the middle of the trail, and we were able to see how a rain forest really works!
Once back on board, the Smithsonian guides joined us for lunch just before another pilot (it is mandatory to all ships to give the control to the Canal pilot) came aboard to continue our canal transit. It was our third pilot on board, and as we continued our transit we kept hearing the howler monkey’s call coming from the rain forest of the island. The rest of the afternoon was spent sailing toward the Pedro Miguel locks on the Pacific side.
