Today we anchored at Dragon Hill, located in the northwestern region of Santa Cruz Island. During the morning, we walked along Dragon Hill and observed a beautiful landscape with dunes covered by a carpet of succulent sea purslane. On the opposite side of the dune is a brackish water lagoon that is home to several species of coastal birds. Today we saw white-cheeked pintail ducks, black-necked stilts, and further along the path we found a few land iguanas.
Later in the morning we drove our Zodiacs to Guy Fawkes for deep water snorkeling. The conditions were challenging due to strong currents, but we were able to snorkel along a vertical wall with many colorful sessile invertebrates and tropical fish.
After a delicious Ecuadorian meal, we offered Zodiac driving lessons to all of the children onboard, our Young Explorers! Finally, at sunset we sailed around Daphne Mayor, a very important island for the study of evolution of Darwin Finches. We learned about Peter and Rosemary Grant and the work they have been conducting there more than forty years.
