El primer día, en STRI 4, Septiembre 2017

Greetings from Panama!

These past few days have been a whirlwind of travel, colorful scenery, delicious food and lots of laughs, as each of us arrived in Panama City. While in Panama City we toured the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks, wandered through a local fish market (enjoyed some ceviche), and visited the Biomuseo.

We had an early morning as we headed off to catch our flight to Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, where the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) is located. We all felt like little kids on Christmas morning, impatiently waiting to jump into the water to see what lay beneath the waves. After a late morning thunderstorm (and a swim test), we finally were able to trade our Chacos for fins and immerse ourselves into the tropical aquatic wonderland.
This is my second time studying at STRI, and despite seeing some of these ecosystems before, I still found myself reveling in moments of awe and fascination. The enthusiasm throughout the group was contagious as we swam our way through seagrass meadows, patch reefs, and mangrove forests.
We saw many beautiful fish diving and weaving through the interwoven coral and sponge filaments.

This juvenile Grey Angelfish (center) swam between reef outcrops.

We watched many adult and jevenile fish use the labyrinth of mangrove roots for shelter as a dozen squeaking and laughing biologists descended apon them.

A school of "silversides" skirt around a barracuda (center-ish) at the edge of the mangrove forest.

A reef outcrop, composed of dozens of different species, including my study organism:

Ophiothrix suensonii, the sponge dwelling brittle star.

Two hours of snorkeling felt like twenty minutes, and we all wanted to keep going, but our grumbling bellies convinced us otherwise, so we headed back to land. We will all sleep well tonight, but we can't wait to get back into the water tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow to read about what we do next in this tropical wonderland.

Cheers,
MacKenna Hainey