Isabela Island
I was up early this morning, around 5:30 a.m. in order to be outside as the National Geographic Endeavour sailed down the Bolivar Channel. This body of water separates the islands of Fernandina and Isabela and is considered to be the richest in Galápagos when speaking of marine biodiversity. It is a relatively shallow channel, and the ocean currents which sweep around the archipelago bring nutrients to the surface. Combined with the equatorial sunlight, strong and intense, this is like fertilizing in a greenhouse; phytoplankton and zooplankton do well here….just as we saw last night in the lounge when Jonathan put a sample under the microscope.
This morning was relatively quiet, although brown noddy terns, blue-footed boobies, storm petrels and frigates were keeping busy, spread out over the vast area. We saw one small group of bottle-nosed dolphins who ignored our desire to see them bow-ride, preferring instead to continue their breakfast somewhere deep down below the sea surface.
The visit this morning had us disembarking at Urbina Bay. In 1954 a significant area was up-lifted due to volcanic activity. The up-lift was so smooth, and so fast, that even lobster and fish were left high and dry. Coral heads never even dreamed of by Darwin were left to bleach in the sun. To get to the coral heads, now overgrown by vegetation for the most part, is a long and challenging hike. However there is an easier trail from the beach which has the potential for wildlife such as Darwin’s finches in abundance, mockingbirds, and oftentimes land iguanas.
Were we lucky or what? Everybody who went ashore, both long hikers and short, saw some remarkable Galápagos endemics: male and female land iguanas, at least one couple in courtship mode, five juvenile hawks, one of which (with some downy feathers still sticking out of its chest) was encountered sitting on a branch above a small giant tortoise. This branch was at eye-level, so photography was outstanding. The tortoise below, not in any way threatened by the young hawk, was wedged into a land iguana burrow head-first, rump out; later though, almost at the landing beach, another tortoise was found in the middle of the trail.
By the time we were all back and preparing for a swim or return on board, the five young hawks were walking around people’s backpacks, sitting on the “stop” sign playing with twigs, or flying back and forth from bush to tree, probably thrilled with all the human entertainment to enliven their possibly normally boring day.
The afternoon was an all-round success as well. Kayakers had penguins floating around, as did a few of the snorkelers, although the green sea turtles were the stars of the show. A fast walk to the top of the trail at Tagus Cove had sunset colors on the hillsides, and those on the Zodiac ride had the same rose light on penguins standing on shore.
It was a marvelous day on the western side of the archipelago, a glimpse of Galápagos as it has looked for millennium.
