Bay of Panama, The Miraflores & Pedro Miguel Locks
After navigating close to 180 nautical miles, the National Geographic Sea Lion was in the bay of Panama. This enormous body of water is nicely decorated by hundreds of little archipelagos comprising thousands of islands.
Many of these islands are not inhabited, but are very important nesting sites for millions of seabirds that nest in this area because of the rich waters the bay provides. The geography of Panama turns this bay into a gigantic seafood stew for seabirds and marine animals, and of course for humans. The lack of large mountain ranges in Central Panama allows the North East winds to blow strong year round, and from December until March they blow even stronger. As the wind blows the warm ocean waters on top, the cold water rich in nutrients rises to the surface from below. Small size fish like anchovies will feed on plankton, which in turn will be eaten by bigger fish like mackerel, and then those fish will be eaten by even bigger fish like tuna and so on. The few fish that escape this part of the food chain will be hunted from the air by frigate birds or trapped underwater by the torpedo shaped boobies. Other islands are small fishing towns where the majority of their population, which never go over a couple hundred people, depends on the day’s catch they send them to Panama each day.
After several days of our cruise, today was the most culturally oriented and truly a unique experience. During the late morning hours we visited the small island of Taboga and experienced the leisurely life of Panamanians, which since yesterday have been celebrating their independence. Our visit was a treat to all passengers because we were led through town by our own private guide, our hotel manager Erasmo Estripeaut. There were children dressed with the traditional costumes of Panama, dancing along with traditional music.
That was just the beginning of our cultural day, during sunset the National Geographic Sea Lion, started its transit through one of mankind’s many wonders, The Panama Canal. The first sets of locks, Miraflores, raised the ship around 50 feet above sea level. The second set of locks, Pedro Miguel raised us another 26 feet. What an unforgettable experience, dining while crossing and engineering marble that still works as well as it did a hundred years ago… Welcome to Panama!
