Isla Otoque and Isla Bona, Gulf of Panama
Today was our first day out of the Panama Canal waters and what a day it was! To start we awoke this morning anchored in the Gulf of Panama in front of a little island, and why do we stop here, is the question to ask?
The Gulf of Panama is one of those few places in Central America where we can experience a phenomenon called ocean upwelling. This upwelling is triggered by the trade winds blowing from the Atlantic side of the isthmus, which cross the isthmus in the low saddle areas between mountain ranges and they then blow warm surface waters away from the land and these waters are replaced by cold nutrient-rich waters from below. This rich water comes close to the surface where there is sunlight, and this provides the perfect conditions for an explosion of life, where many primary producers become food for zooplankton, that as well become food for small fish, which in turn become a meal for larger fish and so forth.
Today we explored this area during a Zodiac ride to see the seabird colonies that are maintained by the upwelling and we had a good time seeing brown pelicans, brown boobies, blue-footed boobys, magnificent frigatebirds, belted kingfisher, two Peregrine falcons and many of us where lucky enough to see a group of dolphins feeding in these rich waters. After our zodiac ride we had a chance to cool off by swimming from the stern of the ship and then enjoyed a delicious lunch.
During the afternoon we sailed in search of marine life, had a lecture aboard and late in the afternoon enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the sundeck.
Today was our first day out of the Panama Canal waters and what a day it was! To start we awoke this morning anchored in the Gulf of Panama in front of a little island, and why do we stop here, is the question to ask?
The Gulf of Panama is one of those few places in Central America where we can experience a phenomenon called ocean upwelling. This upwelling is triggered by the trade winds blowing from the Atlantic side of the isthmus, which cross the isthmus in the low saddle areas between mountain ranges and they then blow warm surface waters away from the land and these waters are replaced by cold nutrient-rich waters from below. This rich water comes close to the surface where there is sunlight, and this provides the perfect conditions for an explosion of life, where many primary producers become food for zooplankton, that as well become food for small fish, which in turn become a meal for larger fish and so forth.
Today we explored this area during a Zodiac ride to see the seabird colonies that are maintained by the upwelling and we had a good time seeing brown pelicans, brown boobies, blue-footed boobys, magnificent frigatebirds, belted kingfisher, two Peregrine falcons and many of us where lucky enough to see a group of dolphins feeding in these rich waters. After our zodiac ride we had a chance to cool off by swimming from the stern of the ship and then enjoyed a delicious lunch.
During the afternoon we sailed in search of marine life, had a lecture aboard and late in the afternoon enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the sundeck.
