Otoque, Bona & Iguana Islands, Panama
The morning sun found us anchored off Flamenco Island in the Bay of Panama. We sailed for a short while to the small archipelago of Bona. Our intention was to find some of the most conspicuous marine birds that call this archipelago their home. We boarded our Zodiacs and headed off to find thousands of Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, as well as brown and blue-footed boobies busy with their daily task of finding food. Fortunately for them, the ocean here is one of the richest in nutrients and fish life in the whole region; due to an anomaly in the topographic layout of the isthmus, the low mountains allow the trade winds from the Atlantic to blow the warm surface water on the Pacific, which immediately is replaced by nutrient-rich water from the bottom, which starts the activity of the primary producers and therefore the entire process of the food chain, a phenomenon known as “upwelling”.
Later in the afternoon, we sailed farther South to another island known as Isla Iguana. Here the warm, crystal-clear water invited us to swim, while some of us decided to go for a short walk across this 150-acre island. The island seemed to abound in Magnificent Frigatebirds, many of which were breeding males displaying their bright red gular pouches hoping to attract a female, thus perpetuating their genes.
Later in the evening we set sail for the island of Coiba, the largest of all on the entire Pacific coast of Central America.
The morning sun found us anchored off Flamenco Island in the Bay of Panama. We sailed for a short while to the small archipelago of Bona. Our intention was to find some of the most conspicuous marine birds that call this archipelago their home. We boarded our Zodiacs and headed off to find thousands of Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, as well as brown and blue-footed boobies busy with their daily task of finding food. Fortunately for them, the ocean here is one of the richest in nutrients and fish life in the whole region; due to an anomaly in the topographic layout of the isthmus, the low mountains allow the trade winds from the Atlantic to blow the warm surface water on the Pacific, which immediately is replaced by nutrient-rich water from the bottom, which starts the activity of the primary producers and therefore the entire process of the food chain, a phenomenon known as “upwelling”.
Later in the afternoon, we sailed farther South to another island known as Isla Iguana. Here the warm, crystal-clear water invited us to swim, while some of us decided to go for a short walk across this 150-acre island. The island seemed to abound in Magnificent Frigatebirds, many of which were breeding males displaying their bright red gular pouches hoping to attract a female, thus perpetuating their genes.
Later in the evening we set sail for the island of Coiba, the largest of all on the entire Pacific coast of Central America.
