Punta Culebra Panama
Páginas: 3 (695 palabras)
Publicado: 22 de abril de 2012
PUNTA CULEBRA
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI)
Punta Culebra’s history dates back to the Spanish Conquest, when the islands of Naos, Flamenco and Perico were used as a harbor forthe old city of Panama . Through time, this place served as a home to fishermen, a loading port for ships with deep drafts, a quarantine station, a defense base for the Canal, a camping area for youngexplorers and a site for STRI’s first marine investigations.
During the construction of the Panama Canal, these three islands were joined to the Isthmus by a 1,250,000-cubic yard strip of soil androcks that were extracted from the Gaillard Cut. The purpose of this filling was to stop the currents from the Bay of Panama and avoid sedimentation at the entrance of the Canal. The road is 6kilometers long and is known as the Calzada de Amador or “Causeway”. From 1915 until the Second World War the islands that formed the Calzada de Amador served to defend the Canal.
At Punta Culebra youcould find 15-inch machine guns and even a railroad that was used to transport military equipment, which was stored at the site’s air-raid shelter.
The hexagonal structure, which currently houses oneof the indoor exhibits, was constructed by ex-General Manuel Antonio Noriega.
Since the beginning of the 20 th Century until 1989, the area served as defense site under Panamanian or USjurisdiction. Because access to the area was restricted, the sandy beach and the rocky coast were protected from fishing and harvesting. Scientists affiliated to STRI and to the University of Panama have usedPunta Culebra’s habitats as a main research area for ecological studies of the rocky intertidal zone and the organisms that populate the sandy beach. Many of theses studies are unique and have becomeclassic examples of ecological investigations of organisms in the intertidal zone of the Tropical Oriental Pacific.
The Punta Culebra Nature Center allows visitors to take a short journey through...
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI)
Punta Culebra’s history dates back to the Spanish Conquest, when the islands of Naos, Flamenco and Perico were used as a harbor forthe old city of Panama . Through time, this place served as a home to fishermen, a loading port for ships with deep drafts, a quarantine station, a defense base for the Canal, a camping area for youngexplorers and a site for STRI’s first marine investigations.
During the construction of the Panama Canal, these three islands were joined to the Isthmus by a 1,250,000-cubic yard strip of soil androcks that were extracted from the Gaillard Cut. The purpose of this filling was to stop the currents from the Bay of Panama and avoid sedimentation at the entrance of the Canal. The road is 6kilometers long and is known as the Calzada de Amador or “Causeway”. From 1915 until the Second World War the islands that formed the Calzada de Amador served to defend the Canal.
At Punta Culebra youcould find 15-inch machine guns and even a railroad that was used to transport military equipment, which was stored at the site’s air-raid shelter.
The hexagonal structure, which currently houses oneof the indoor exhibits, was constructed by ex-General Manuel Antonio Noriega.
Since the beginning of the 20 th Century until 1989, the area served as defense site under Panamanian or USjurisdiction. Because access to the area was restricted, the sandy beach and the rocky coast were protected from fishing and harvesting. Scientists affiliated to STRI and to the University of Panama have usedPunta Culebra’s habitats as a main research area for ecological studies of the rocky intertidal zone and the organisms that populate the sandy beach. Many of theses studies are unique and have becomeclassic examples of ecological investigations of organisms in the intertidal zone of the Tropical Oriental Pacific.
The Punta Culebra Nature Center allows visitors to take a short journey through...
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