Day 2: Snorkeling, Mangroves, and Reefs

 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Bocas del Toro, Panama

September 8, 2024

Owen Herd

Today kicked off with a 7 AM breakfast of eggs, toast, pineapple, and passionfruit juice (yum!) before meeting at the docks at 8 for a full morning of snorkeling. Conditions were warm, humid, and cloudy. 

Today, we explored 3 main locations:

30 minutes at STRI Point

90 minutes at Hospital Point

30 minutes at Mangrove Point

We arrived back at the STRI docks at 11:20, just in time for the massive rain showers which concluded our morning activities.

Before lunch, cabins 3 and 4 got a chance to observe 2 olive-throated parakeets on the dorm balcony

At 12:30 PM lunch, we ate a lunch of roast beef and fish, rice, and spicy cucumber. 

This was followed by 2 PM Richard lecture on the Mangroves of Panama and around the world, which serve as critical species habitat in the Bocas area. We then did a short 30 minute mangrove lab identifying as many life forms as we could present on 4 different cuts of mangrove branches that had been collected during the snorkeling session at Mangrove Point. Findings included many sponges, hydroids, encrusting algae, as well as sea spiders and crabs.

At 4:30 PM, we met again to do a photo sharing for all the photos taken that day during the snorkeling dives. 

6 PM dinner consisted of fried chicken, fish, mashed potatoes and gravy, and bok choy, followed with a refreshing dessert of coconut flan. It was delicious.

At 7:30 PM, we had our second Richard lecture of the day, this time covering coral reefs. We discussed the scientific importance of coral in studying fluctuating sea levels and their contributions to the structure of the continental shelf. As seen in the photos above, coral reefs are an integral part of the Bocas region's ecological identity.

After lecture, we broke to organize the beginning steps of our research projects which will start tomorrow. Late night study sesh! 

Overall, today was an important day for exploring the region and setting up the roots of the research projects that will occupy much of our remaining time in this wonderful tropical region of the world. Good night!