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The Galeta Marine Laboratory is situated on Galeta Point, about 5 km east of the entrance to the Panama Canal (9.401307N, 79.859276W). It is adjacent to Bahia Las Minas, an extensive shallow water embayment with mangrove forests, grassbeds, and coral reefs. The entire area has felt the impact of man for several centuries including Spanish excavation of parts of the reef to build fortifications, the initial French and then the U.S. construction of a canal, and the building of a cement factory and an oil refinery. There are considerable pressures for development of this area and the long-term integrity of the coastal ecosystems is unclear. |
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Intensive monitoring of the flora and fauna on the small intertidal reef flat at the Galeta started in 1970, along with measurements of basic meteorological and physical oceanographic factors. In 1986, a major oil spill from the nearby oil refinery polluted the reef and nearby mangrove forests, and for the next 5 years, biological monitoring continued a program to monitor the assess the effect of that spill. Most of the biological monitoring stopped in 1991, when the oil-spill study ended, but the Panama Reef Monitoring Network continues to monitor several of the reefs. Oceanographic and meteorological monitoring has continued to date. It is also the site of STRI's Marine Environmental Education Program. At three places along the coast to the east, permanent water temperature monitoring stations have been established. |
