Panama Canal

The Panama Canal, a masterpiece of engineering, is considered to be the eighth wonder of the modern world and has shortened the trip around the continent of South America by 7,000 miles.  In 1999, the government of Panama was granted full authority of the enterprise.   We enter the canal at Gatun locks.  After crossing Giguel and Miraflores locks.  After transiting these locks we will enter the North Pacific Ocean and continue on a southerly course towards Ecuador.

The Pacific Ocean claimed its namesake from the Latin name Mare Pacificum (peaceful sea), bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.  For most of Magellan’s voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer did find the ocean peaceful; however, this is not always the case.  Many tropical cyclones (typhoons – the equivalent of Atlantic hurricanes), batter the islands of the Pacific; the lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes; tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and destroyed entire towns.

The Pacific Ocean encompasses one third of the Earth’s surface, making it the largest body of water with an area of 69.4 million square miles (179.7 million square kilometers), an area significantly larger than the entire Earth’s landmass.  The lowest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, lies in the Pacific Ocean at 35,797 feet (10,911 meters) below sea level.  The average depth of the entire ocean is 14,000 feet (4,300 meters).