Isla Granita de Oro, Parque National Isla Coiba, Panama
During our smooth night aboard National Geographic Sea Lion we left Costa Rica in our wake and entered the waters of Panama. Besides being home to one of the greatest technological feats of humankind, this geologically and politically young country is known for high diversity and large stretches of protected and even inaccessible land. This morning we explored a hard-to-reach archipelago situated around the main island of Isla Coiba. High in biodiversity both above and below water, this group of islands and islets has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site which makes our morning exploration that much more special.
After several days in the tropical rain forests of Costa Rica searching for monkeys and macaws, we enjoyed a free morning of snorkeling, kayaking and lounging at the tiny islet Granito de Oro. This white sand pocket beach has been likened to a tiny speck of paradise, complete with just enough palm trees to provide shade from the afternoon sun. After a greeting from the local common black hawk we donned our snorkel gear, powered up our underwater digital cameras and went for a dip to check out the shallow reef surrounding the islet.
Clear, warm water afforded us the opportunity to view numerous reef inhabitants with general ease. Powerful blue crevally (a type of jack) patrolled the outer margins of the reef while exceptionally elongated coronetfish cruised by in a linear ease. Others sighted hawksbill and black sea turtles (a distinct morph of green sea turtles) as they periodically surfaced in their lazy, typically chelonian fashion. However, I must confess that I cheated and used SCUBA gear for my observations with the goal of capturing video footage to share with guests at recap. We viewed the odd oscillations of a balloonfish’s fins and the sinuous track of a zebra moray eel during the evening’s cocktail hour. In a day filled with singular wildlife encounters, some with beautiful reef inhabitants like the wary-but-curious hawkfish, each of us has a head full of memories to download and (hopefully) backup in duplicate. Which encounter was the best? I am delighted and jealous to announce that some guests had the good fortune to view a white-tip reef shark, a nocturnal top predator and key reef species. In a world where large predators are becoming harder and harder to find, where we must travel thousands of miles to see what was once in our own backyard, protected lands and marine reserves will be the last refuge for our large wild animals. In a perfect world we would see sharks and large predatory animals every time we snorkeled on a coral reef. Even though that may sound a little scary to some, reef ecosystems with large predators are more diverse and generally healthier than those without. Today some of us swam with a white-tip reef shark and saw a myriad of other predators on a coral reef. That is the beauty of protected areas like Parque National Isla Coiba. Why can’t it be like this everywhere?
