Fernandina and Northern Isabela Islands
Early today we sailed into Bolivar’s channel that separates the islands of Isabela and Fernandina. We woke up early to look for marine mammals and saw a couple of Bryde’s whales in the distance. As we came up to the sundeck to see them both whales swam and stayed around the ship.
Later on after breakfast we headed ashore to Fernandina Island; there we found large numbers of Galápagos marine iguanas basking under the sun, swimming back to the shore after feeding, and some were heading to the water to dive and feed on algae.
Along the path we observed hundreds of Sally Lightfoot crabs of all colors. We also had the presence of a Galápagos hawk that was first spotted on the top of a tree and later on it was on a rock hunting for newborn marine iguanas. It is always outstanding to see the top land predator in the archipelago so close and in action. After this walk on Fernandina Island we went snorkeling in the cool productive waters around this island. There were sea turtles, and several species of fish in the area.
After lunch we crossed the Equator and then went on a Zodiac ride along the coast of Ecuador volcano; this is half of a volcano, the other half collapsed in the water. It was a great example of what a volcano looks like inside. As we explored the coast we found some marine iguanas, sea turtles, Galápagos sea lions, Galápagos fur seals, blue-footed boobies, Galápagos flightless cormorants, and Galápagos penguins.
Some of our guests also found a couple of whales, very likely to be the same pair we saw early in the morning. We ended our day with a great sunset behind Ecuador volcano.
