Isabela Island
The underwater world of the Galápagos is truly fascinating. The fantastic oceanic ecosystems are as beautiful and interesting as the land ones. The protected areas in Galápagos comprehend not only the land part but also the waters around the islands. Animals on land depend very much on the creatures that live in the ocean. Today we visited the western part of the archipelago. We started early in the morning with great excitement, as an Orca whale was spotted. Many of our guests had the opportunity to have a great look at this beautiful marine mammal, which swam by very close to the ship. Later in the morning we went to Punta Vicente Roca, which is a place located in the north-western corner of Isabela Island, the largest island in the archipelago (1771 square miles). During this ride we observed many interesting animals: large marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, noddy terns, Galápagos penguins and also a great encounter with a small pod of bottle-nosed dolphins, comprising many females and their calves. After this very exciting Zodiac ride, we returned to the ship and donned our snorkel gear to explore a small bay in the area. This morning the sun was shining, the water was clear and the ocean was calm, we had the perfect conditions for our water activities. Once under water we discovered many colourful fish, marine iguanas swimming, and Galápagos penguins. The highlight for many of our guests was the great opportunity to swim with green Pacific turtles. There were many of them in the area, some turtles were grazing algae from the rocks while others were just swimming, probably looking for a mate, and yet more were sleeping on the bottom. At some point we did not know where to look, they were everywhere. What an incredible experience!
The underwater world of the Galápagos is truly fascinating. The fantastic oceanic ecosystems are as beautiful and interesting as the land ones. The protected areas in Galápagos comprehend not only the land part but also the waters around the islands. Animals on land depend very much on the creatures that live in the ocean. Today we visited the western part of the archipelago. We started early in the morning with great excitement, as an Orca whale was spotted. Many of our guests had the opportunity to have a great look at this beautiful marine mammal, which swam by very close to the ship. Later in the morning we went to Punta Vicente Roca, which is a place located in the north-western corner of Isabela Island, the largest island in the archipelago (1771 square miles). During this ride we observed many interesting animals: large marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, noddy terns, Galápagos penguins and also a great encounter with a small pod of bottle-nosed dolphins, comprising many females and their calves. After this very exciting Zodiac ride, we returned to the ship and donned our snorkel gear to explore a small bay in the area. This morning the sun was shining, the water was clear and the ocean was calm, we had the perfect conditions for our water activities. Once under water we discovered many colourful fish, marine iguanas swimming, and Galápagos penguins. The highlight for many of our guests was the great opportunity to swim with green Pacific turtles. There were many of them in the area, some turtles were grazing algae from the rocks while others were just swimming, probably looking for a mate, and yet more were sleeping on the bottom. At some point we did not know where to look, they were everywhere. What an incredible experience!
