Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal
Even though we began our transit of the Panama Canal last evening right after we got on board the Sea Voyager, it was today that the official expedition to Panama and Costa Rica began, and what a way to start!
We awoke to find ourselves at anchor half-way through the Panama Canal, just off of Barro Colorado Island or BCI. BCI is actually a mountaintop that, with the construction of the Panama Canal and the flooding of artificial Lake Gatun, became surrounded by fresh water.
It has an area of about 1,564 hectares (3,865acres) and in 1923 was declared a biological reserve. In 1946, the Smithsonian Institute became the administrator of the island and it became known as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).
STRI has become a Mecca of tropical research and BCI is one of the most studied and well known pieces of tropical forest on our planet. Much of what we read about tropical rain forest flora and fauna comes from this facility.
This morning we had a chance to visit this scientists’ paradise and see some of the tools that they use in the field and learn of some of their research. That wasn’t all, as we also had our first looks at howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis, Central American agoutis, woodpeckers, toucans, trogons, and even a spectacled owl.
After our great morning, we had the rest of the day to see and enjoy the crossing of the rest of the Panama Canal on our way to the Pacific Ocean, one of the great marvels of twentieth century engineering.
Even though we began our transit of the Panama Canal last evening right after we got on board the Sea Voyager, it was today that the official expedition to Panama and Costa Rica began, and what a way to start!
We awoke to find ourselves at anchor half-way through the Panama Canal, just off of Barro Colorado Island or BCI. BCI is actually a mountaintop that, with the construction of the Panama Canal and the flooding of artificial Lake Gatun, became surrounded by fresh water.
It has an area of about 1,564 hectares (3,865acres) and in 1923 was declared a biological reserve. In 1946, the Smithsonian Institute became the administrator of the island and it became known as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).
STRI has become a Mecca of tropical research and BCI is one of the most studied and well known pieces of tropical forest on our planet. Much of what we read about tropical rain forest flora and fauna comes from this facility.
This morning we had a chance to visit this scientists’ paradise and see some of the tools that they use in the field and learn of some of their research. That wasn’t all, as we also had our first looks at howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis, Central American agoutis, woodpeckers, toucans, trogons, and even a spectacled owl.
After our great morning, we had the rest of the day to see and enjoy the crossing of the rest of the Panama Canal on our way to the Pacific Ocean, one of the great marvels of twentieth century engineering.
