Bona & Otoque Islands, Panama
We sailed north during the night to the islands of Bona and Otoque in the Gulf of Panama, a region blessed with marine diversity. The trade winds that took Columbus across the Atlantic more than five hundred years ago, find a narrow, low lying passage across the Isthmus of Panama – which incidentally is the location of the Panama Canal – and blow away the warm surface water on the Pacific side creating a phenomenon known as upwelling, this in turn sets the stage for the food chain to begin.
Many organisms, especially seabirds benefit from this, and today we had the chance to witness a frenzy of brown and blue-footed boobies as well as brown pelicans diving for food, while others such as the frigatebirds mobbed their victims to steal their precious catch.
Some time around noon the Sea Voyager sailed toward the Panama Canal, and we waited our turn to transit the locks on the Pacific side of the waterway. We enjoyed a delicious Panamanian dinner in the lounge, while our vessel entered the first chamber at Miraflores Locks. Eventually, we gained a total of 26 metres (85 feet) of elevation to the level of the Culebra Cut. We anchored in Gatun Lake and spent the night there before repositioning the vessel at Barro Colorado Island.
We sailed north during the night to the islands of Bona and Otoque in the Gulf of Panama, a region blessed with marine diversity. The trade winds that took Columbus across the Atlantic more than five hundred years ago, find a narrow, low lying passage across the Isthmus of Panama – which incidentally is the location of the Panama Canal – and blow away the warm surface water on the Pacific side creating a phenomenon known as upwelling, this in turn sets the stage for the food chain to begin.
Many organisms, especially seabirds benefit from this, and today we had the chance to witness a frenzy of brown and blue-footed boobies as well as brown pelicans diving for food, while others such as the frigatebirds mobbed their victims to steal their precious catch.
Some time around noon the Sea Voyager sailed toward the Panama Canal, and we waited our turn to transit the locks on the Pacific side of the waterway. We enjoyed a delicious Panamanian dinner in the lounge, while our vessel entered the first chamber at Miraflores Locks. Eventually, we gained a total of 26 metres (85 feet) of elevation to the level of the Culebra Cut. We anchored in Gatun Lake and spent the night there before repositioning the vessel at Barro Colorado Island.
