After watching another peaceful sunrise without a cloud in the sky, our day began with the morning restorative yoga class. National Geographic Sea Lion had traveled 190 nautical miles through the night from Coiba Island National Park. A cool breeze and the presence of hundreds of seabirds soaring were evidence that it had arrived to a little island in the Gulf of Panama called Bona.
It was a bird-lovers paradise... Here in the Gulf of Panama, the trade winds blow over the warm surface water allowing nutrient-rich water to rise from below. This brings millions of seabirds to this area.
We had the opportunity to take an expedition landing craft ride around the island to have a closer view of these seabird habitats. It was an amazing sight. There were hundreds and hundreds of birds filling the sky. Brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, blue-footed boobies, and brown boobies with their sweet little chicks, all white and fluffy were among the interesting view. It was exciting to see their four-toed webbed feet at such a close range.
As we approached to their roosting area, they flew over us majestically. The freedom of their flight reminded us about the harmony that should exist between nature and humans.
Back on board, our captain weighed anchor and we left behind Bona Island and this seabird colony. We headed 22 nautical miles toward the opening of the Panama Canal. On our way to our anchorage a minke whale was spotted. The water was so calm and the presence of this whale made us think about how many secrets thus the mighty ocean has. We stayed around the whale for a while and continued to Flamenco Signal, our anchorage area for our transit.
As we waited for our pilot to arrive, we enjoyed the view of Panama City, a delicious ceviche up at the sun deck, and a beautiful sunset. Our pilot finally arrived in the evening and we began our transit through one of the wonders of the world, the Panama Canal. What a way to end a great day!
