Isabela and Fernandina Islands
I was concentrated and concerned for the first 45 minutes of the morning…sure, the sea was flat calm, a lovely deep blue and the sky was clear and sunny plus there was a cool breeze, so it was another perfect day, weather-wise. But nothing, absolutely nothing broke the surface of the ocean, and I was determinedly searching for marine life. First Officer Carlos took the Islander on a couple loops away from the coast in hopes that we might spy something interesting. And finally to the delight of all of us…I did!
A group of 30 short-finned pilot whales came directly towards us and then hung around, surfacing and diving beside the ship while we squealed and laughed and clapped with delight. We got great photos and excellent looks at these small toothed whales and only with reluctance continued on our way to cross the equator line.
We descended to our breakfast buffet, and barely had time to enjoy the variety of fresh fruits, cereals and other items that we were offered, when Lynn got a call from the bridge: dolphins and more, MANY MORE pilot whales!!! There were 4 pods of whales this time – spread out across a mirror-calm ocean and dozens of bottlenose dolphins among them.
From the decks of Islander we had incredible views of the whales; they rested alongside the ship and seemed as curious about us as we were about them. We lowered a Zodiac and sent Tove, our Video Chronicler, to film with her splash camera and Naturalist Celso got into his wetsuit and took the underwater video camera. Together they got some outstanding footage.
The day had just begun; later we went on a Zodiac ride at Punta Vicente Roca and swam from the ship afterwards. Following lunch, two Zodiacs of guests went snorkeling at Punta Espinoza and had an amazing time with sea turtles, flightless cormorants and colorful fish. The afternoon walk at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island, among hundreds of marine iguanas and sea lion, an endemic black lava lizard, cormorants and penguins was absolutely spectacular. As was the orange sunset that culminated a fabulous, and possibly unbeatable day!
I was concentrated and concerned for the first 45 minutes of the morning…sure, the sea was flat calm, a lovely deep blue and the sky was clear and sunny plus there was a cool breeze, so it was another perfect day, weather-wise. But nothing, absolutely nothing broke the surface of the ocean, and I was determinedly searching for marine life. First Officer Carlos took the Islander on a couple loops away from the coast in hopes that we might spy something interesting. And finally to the delight of all of us…I did!
A group of 30 short-finned pilot whales came directly towards us and then hung around, surfacing and diving beside the ship while we squealed and laughed and clapped with delight. We got great photos and excellent looks at these small toothed whales and only with reluctance continued on our way to cross the equator line.
We descended to our breakfast buffet, and barely had time to enjoy the variety of fresh fruits, cereals and other items that we were offered, when Lynn got a call from the bridge: dolphins and more, MANY MORE pilot whales!!! There were 4 pods of whales this time – spread out across a mirror-calm ocean and dozens of bottlenose dolphins among them.
From the decks of Islander we had incredible views of the whales; they rested alongside the ship and seemed as curious about us as we were about them. We lowered a Zodiac and sent Tove, our Video Chronicler, to film with her splash camera and Naturalist Celso got into his wetsuit and took the underwater video camera. Together they got some outstanding footage.
The day had just begun; later we went on a Zodiac ride at Punta Vicente Roca and swam from the ship afterwards. Following lunch, two Zodiacs of guests went snorkeling at Punta Espinoza and had an amazing time with sea turtles, flightless cormorants and colorful fish. The afternoon walk at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island, among hundreds of marine iguanas and sea lion, an endemic black lava lizard, cormorants and penguins was absolutely spectacular. As was the orange sunset that culminated a fabulous, and possibly unbeatable day!
