Otoque and Bona Islands, Panama
After crossing the one and only Panama Canal for the past two days, our Nature-Watching trip began this morning as we cruised around the seabird islands of Bona and Otoque, within the Bay of Panama. With the help of our Zodiacs and our superb drivers, we were able to explore every groove and cove of the islands, close enough to spot juvenile sally-light-foot crabs, barnacles, sponges, limpets, and of course the sea birds, such as brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown and blue-footed boobies. We were daunted by the sheer number of seabirds on the cliffs and draping vegetation and by their various displays of behavior.
Seabirds are defined as those species whose normal habitat and food source is the sea, be they coastal, offshore, or pelagic. But, living in the sea is not an easy matter. If an animal depends on the ocean for its food and living, it must deal with the general bird issues as well as other issues common only to seabirds. These are, for example, keeping their feathers in good condition, trying to keep cool, surviving the impact of a plunge dive, salt accumulation, and colonial incubation. It never ceases to amaze us how these animals deal with all of the special circumstances they have to confront. Of course the most important of all the activities is finding and getting food. Several strategies are employed to get the fish. Plunge diving in boobies and pelicans and kleptoparasitism in frigatebirds are two of these.
In contrast to what we had seen so far and will see as we move towards our northern destinations, the seas today are highly productive, due to a break in the mountain chains that allows the trade winds to blow over the gulf creating a nutrient-rich upwelling. An upwelling is a flow of deep water towards the surface that brings water from depths below the light zone. This water is loaded with nutrients and dissolved gases as there are no phytoplankton at these depths to consume the compounds. Upwellings such as these enhance the conditions for life and the complex chain of life begins.
On returning after an exciting morning, we began cruising; our destination a snorkeling objective, Granito de Oro Islet within Coiba National Park.
After crossing the one and only Panama Canal for the past two days, our Nature-Watching trip began this morning as we cruised around the seabird islands of Bona and Otoque, within the Bay of Panama. With the help of our Zodiacs and our superb drivers, we were able to explore every groove and cove of the islands, close enough to spot juvenile sally-light-foot crabs, barnacles, sponges, limpets, and of course the sea birds, such as brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown and blue-footed boobies. We were daunted by the sheer number of seabirds on the cliffs and draping vegetation and by their various displays of behavior.
Seabirds are defined as those species whose normal habitat and food source is the sea, be they coastal, offshore, or pelagic. But, living in the sea is not an easy matter. If an animal depends on the ocean for its food and living, it must deal with the general bird issues as well as other issues common only to seabirds. These are, for example, keeping their feathers in good condition, trying to keep cool, surviving the impact of a plunge dive, salt accumulation, and colonial incubation. It never ceases to amaze us how these animals deal with all of the special circumstances they have to confront. Of course the most important of all the activities is finding and getting food. Several strategies are employed to get the fish. Plunge diving in boobies and pelicans and kleptoparasitism in frigatebirds are two of these.
In contrast to what we had seen so far and will see as we move towards our northern destinations, the seas today are highly productive, due to a break in the mountain chains that allows the trade winds to blow over the gulf creating a nutrient-rich upwelling. An upwelling is a flow of deep water towards the surface that brings water from depths below the light zone. This water is loaded with nutrients and dissolved gases as there are no phytoplankton at these depths to consume the compounds. Upwellings such as these enhance the conditions for life and the complex chain of life begins.
On returning after an exciting morning, we began cruising; our destination a snorkeling objective, Granito de Oro Islet within Coiba National Park.
