The Panama Canal is internationally recognized as one of the world’s busiest and most crucial shipping routes. Completed in the early 20th century, the 80-kilometer waterway revolutionized global trade by providing a shorter and safer alternative to navigating around the southern tip of South America, saving shipping companies time and money [1]. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and via the manmade Gatun Lake. At approximately 85 feet above sea level, Gatun Lake forms a major part of the Canal, carrying ships nearly halfway across the Isthmus of Panama [2]. For each ship, 200 million liters of freshwater is used to move it through the locks before being dumped into the sea [3].