Isabela and Fernandina Islands
We traveled all night and dawn found us in the western realm of the archipelago. Shortly after seven o’clock in the morning we spotted our first whale; a sperm whale that was breathing and resting on the ocean’s surface about one mile ahead of the ship. We approached slowly and when we were only 120 yards away, it made a spectacular dive and showed us its huge tail. Although we had not really counted on seeing whales today, as few have been sighted recently in the area, this was just the beginning of the excitement! No sooner had the sperm whale disappeared then we spotted the tall spout of a Bryde’s whale and later two sperm whales (probably one of them was the individual we had seen earlier) surfaced behind the ship, dove and fluked as we headed in their direction. Rafael got a quick look at a beaked whale, probably a Cuvier’s, but with only a brief sighting he was not able to make a positive identification. We had no sooner descended for breakfast than Lynn called us back topside to watch a pod of common dolphins leaping and splashing off our bow.
With ceremony, we crossed the Equator line and continued to cruise along the spectacular northern coast of Isabela Island until we reached out anchorage at Punta Vicente Roca. Here we had options of a panga ride or kayaking along the back side of the caldera of Volcan Ecuador. We spotted a hammer head shark, Mola molas, dozens of sea turtles and quite a few Galápagos sea lions and fur seals. Back on board we got ready for snorkeling and found Galápagos penguins fishing, flightless cormorants performing their aquatic courtship dance, a manta ray that made several circles close to us, and countless Pacific sea turtles being cleaned of algae and resting on the sandy bottom.
Lunch today was an extravagant Ecuadorian buffet (and by then we were hungry and ready to partake of it!) and we napped while the ship headed to Fernandina Island.
In the afternoon we explored Punta Espinosa. As soon as we got ashore we found tidal pools where an octopus was hiding among rocks. A small Galápagos horn shark, sea stars and sea turtles were trapped in shallow waters. The trail took us to a cormorant colony surrounded by hundreds of marine iguanas, and Galápagos sea lions. We motored back to the ship as the sunset behind the shield volcano that makes up this youngest island of Fernandina.
We traveled all night and dawn found us in the western realm of the archipelago. Shortly after seven o’clock in the morning we spotted our first whale; a sperm whale that was breathing and resting on the ocean’s surface about one mile ahead of the ship. We approached slowly and when we were only 120 yards away, it made a spectacular dive and showed us its huge tail. Although we had not really counted on seeing whales today, as few have been sighted recently in the area, this was just the beginning of the excitement! No sooner had the sperm whale disappeared then we spotted the tall spout of a Bryde’s whale and later two sperm whales (probably one of them was the individual we had seen earlier) surfaced behind the ship, dove and fluked as we headed in their direction. Rafael got a quick look at a beaked whale, probably a Cuvier’s, but with only a brief sighting he was not able to make a positive identification. We had no sooner descended for breakfast than Lynn called us back topside to watch a pod of common dolphins leaping and splashing off our bow.
With ceremony, we crossed the Equator line and continued to cruise along the spectacular northern coast of Isabela Island until we reached out anchorage at Punta Vicente Roca. Here we had options of a panga ride or kayaking along the back side of the caldera of Volcan Ecuador. We spotted a hammer head shark, Mola molas, dozens of sea turtles and quite a few Galápagos sea lions and fur seals. Back on board we got ready for snorkeling and found Galápagos penguins fishing, flightless cormorants performing their aquatic courtship dance, a manta ray that made several circles close to us, and countless Pacific sea turtles being cleaned of algae and resting on the sandy bottom.
Lunch today was an extravagant Ecuadorian buffet (and by then we were hungry and ready to partake of it!) and we napped while the ship headed to Fernandina Island.
In the afternoon we explored Punta Espinosa. As soon as we got ashore we found tidal pools where an octopus was hiding among rocks. A small Galápagos horn shark, sea stars and sea turtles were trapped in shallow waters. The trail took us to a cormorant colony surrounded by hundreds of marine iguanas, and Galápagos sea lions. We motored back to the ship as the sunset behind the shield volcano that makes up this youngest island of Fernandina.
