Islets in the Gulf of Panama and the Panama Canal
This morning we had the opportunity to visit one of the most interesting ecosystems this time of the year around the Bay of Panama. Due to how the continental divide runs through the Isthmus of Panama, whenever strong winds from the northeast start blowing during our dry season, most of the Pacific coast of Panama gets protected from them, because of the giant wall this mountain ridge represents. But there is an exception, there is a gap. The continental divide gets smaller, almost creating a gap once it gets to central Panama where the Panama Canal was built. Because of this, those strong winds can overpass the entire Isthmus through this gap, from one ocean to another and once they get to the Pacific Ocean in the Gulf of Panama an upwelling occurs.
During an upwelling nutrient rich, cold water rises from deeper levels to replace the surface warm water that has drifted away because of these strong winds. These nutrients are responsible for supporting the large fish population commonly found in these areas. As the food chain continues, thousands of pelagic birds arrive at these waters to take advantage of all the resources, in order to feed and breed in an explosive manner.
As we Zodiac cruise around the rocky islands of the Gulf of Panama like Bona and Otoque, we spotted large colonies of magnificent frigate birds, brown pelicans, brown boobies, blue-footed boobies and some yellow-crowned night-herons. All these birds represent an important link to maintain the balance of this very delicate interaction. We were able to observe interactions involving competitions that were intra-species as well as inter-species like the Kleptoparasitism involving magnificent frigate birds trying to steal fish from boobies.
One oceanic process like this can easily be altered during phenomena like El Nino, where a deeper layer between the cold deep water and the warm water from the surface, due to the lack of strong winds, limits the amount of nutrients brought to shallower depths by the upwelling process.
In the afternoon, after we got our Panama Canal Pilot and line handlers onboard, and we started our transit through the Panama Canal. Once under the Bridge of the Americas, we were able to have a glimpse of what was going to be our first locks of the afternoon, Miraflores Locks. On Miraflores we were lifted 54 feet above sea level while we observed carefully how the gates close behind us allowing 26 million gallons of fresh water to enter inside the chamber in just eight minutes. This entire process was divided in two separate steps, 27 feet each. Later, we enter Miraflores Lake, the third and smallest water reservoir of the Panama Canal. Here we had a great view of the ongoing construction of the new set of locks for the Panama Canal Expansion, bringing back memories of those famous photographs of the construction of the first set of locks almost one hundred years ago. We were certainly watching history in the making. Finally, Pedro Miguel, our final lock of the day on the Pacific side, raised us the remaining 31 feet in order to enter the Gaillard Cut located 85 feet above sea level. Once under the Centennial Bridge, inside the Gaillard Cut, the sun set behind us as we went ahead into Gatun Lake were we were to drop anchor for the night. Tomorrow we’ll spend all day within Canal waters and we’ll finish our voyage on a different ocean than the one we started in.
