This morning, we visited Fernandina Island, the youngest and westernmost island of the Galapagos. We stopped at Espinosa Point and walked along the shore on lava flows and black sand. We observed lots of marine iguanas, playful baby sea lions, Galapagos hawks, herons, and lava lizards. The iguanas displayed territorial behavior, some of them even bleeding from the ongoing fighting during this season.
After our walk, we returned to the ship to get into our wetsuits. We enjoyed snorkeling along the coast, where we had the opportunity to observe tropical fish, Galapagos penguins, and sea lions.
In the afternoon, National Geographic Endeavour II dropped anchor at Vicente Roca Point, located northwest of Isabela Island. Here we had an amazing time observing endemic wildlife and various geological features along the coast. We found marine iguanas, penguins on the rocks, Galapagos fur seals, and blue-footed boobies. We also got very close to a colony of flightless cormorants, one of the best examples of adaptive behavior in the Galapagos. We also observed many sea turtles in the shallow water; they were ready for our cameras!
Back on board, the captain took us to the north. As we crossed the equatorial line, we celebrated with a wine tasting on the sundeck. We all had a wonderful time!
