Coiba Island, Panama
Today we were ashore as the sun rose for early bird-watching at the ranger station on Coiba Island, where we got to see blue-headed parrots, blue-throated hummingbirds, sulfur-bellied flycatchers and several other species while the ranger’s mascot, a red brocket deer called Sara, walked about the station.
Coiba is the largest island in Panama with 493 square kilometers. In 1991 this island, which for decades has been the site of a federal penal colony, became the centerpiece of a 104,000 acres national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. In this amazing park we find 69 species of fish, and several species of cetaceans.
We repositioned the ship at breakfast to one of the most beautiful spots in this Marine National Park, a tiny little rock with a beautiful white sand beach in the north side and two palm trees. Just in minutes, fins, snorkels and strange looking mammals invaded the reefs and the inhabitants of Granito the Oro to take a look to the marine environment around us. We even heard from the beach several people shouting “sea turtle” as they saw a hawksbill while snorkeling.
After a well-deserved lunch, we sailed towards the Bay of Panama to start our continental cross while a large group of Pantropical spotted dolphins performed different acrobatic jumps along side the Sea Voyager giving us a warm farewell.
Today we were ashore as the sun rose for early bird-watching at the ranger station on Coiba Island, where we got to see blue-headed parrots, blue-throated hummingbirds, sulfur-bellied flycatchers and several other species while the ranger’s mascot, a red brocket deer called Sara, walked about the station.
Coiba is the largest island in Panama with 493 square kilometers. In 1991 this island, which for decades has been the site of a federal penal colony, became the centerpiece of a 104,000 acres national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. In this amazing park we find 69 species of fish, and several species of cetaceans.
We repositioned the ship at breakfast to one of the most beautiful spots in this Marine National Park, a tiny little rock with a beautiful white sand beach in the north side and two palm trees. Just in minutes, fins, snorkels and strange looking mammals invaded the reefs and the inhabitants of Granito the Oro to take a look to the marine environment around us. We even heard from the beach several people shouting “sea turtle” as they saw a hawksbill while snorkeling.
After a well-deserved lunch, we sailed towards the Bay of Panama to start our continental cross while a large group of Pantropical spotted dolphins performed different acrobatic jumps along side the Sea Voyager giving us a warm farewell.
