Fernandina Island & Punta Vicente Roca on Isabela Island
As some of us walked around the deck early in the morning we could see some dark birds swimming and diving around the ship, they were the endemic flightless cormorants. We had just arrived to one of the most pristine islands in the world, and also the youngest within the Galapagos Archipelago: Fernandina Island.
The sky was clear and almost cloudless, and as we approached the landing site, we began to see several marine turtles in the water and some marine iguanas swimming in the water. After landing at Punta Espinoza it was possible to see some marine iguanas that were eating algae on the rocks that were exposed during low tide. One great blue heron walked along the same rocky area, stopping every now and then, waiting for some naïve prey to be unaware of its presence and then continued, there was plenty of potential food on the intertidal rocks for that heron, several Sally Lightfood crabs, although there was a minor issue here; this “breakfast” had legs and could move fast.
In a nearby tidepool a sea lion was napping, while on the rocks next to it several marine iguanas started some head shaking movements, facing each other and looking as aggressive as possible. This is the sign of the beginning of the breeding season; male marine iguanas are already showing their territorial behavior. After returning back onboard we navigated through Bolivar Channel to Punta Vicente Roca, suddenly a pod of common dolphins was spotted by our officers, jumping and just having fun.
In the afternoon it was time for a Zodiac ride along the coastline of Isabela Island, this time a flock of Galapagos penguins decided to perform in front of us and show the correct way to get on a rock as the waves moved them around at the same time, and in a very elegant and dignified way, one at a time, got out of the water and started to pose for the pictures that several of us started to take.
Close to the same place several flightless cormorants opened their wings and exposed them so they dried. In the same place and almost at the same time we saw one of the most odd creatures here, a penguin that lives in the tropics and a bird that evolved to lose its capacity to fly. This day was ending, tomorrow is going to be not only the first day of a new year, but the also the first day of a new adventure.
