Urbina Bay & Punta Moreno, Southern Isabela
Today, we were fortunate to explore an infrequently visited part of the coastline of the largest island in the Galápagos Archipelago, Isabela. This island was created by the fusion of six enormous shield volcanoes giving rise to its characteristic “seahorse” shape. In the morning, we landed at Urbina Bay, on the western coast of Isabela, on a beach at the base of Alcedo Volcano, one of its active volcanoes which last erupted in 1993. There were long and short hiking options this morning. The trail took us inland to view the dramatic uplift of the coastline that occurred in 1954. This uplift, caused by magma moving upwards under the volcano, rapidly raised a 5 km stretch of coral reef 4 meters above sea level stranding much of the marine life, including large corals, turtles, fish and lobsters. We saw many large coral heads located far inland. As we walked the trail, we also saw many other signs of the underwater origin of the land – shells, wave-rounded cobbles, and sea urchin segments.
Further inland in the dry lowlands, we were fortunate to encounter several brightly colored yellow-orange land iguanas. All around us were their burrows which they use for thermoregulation to keep warm at night or cool during the day. The trees along the path were filled with scores of ground finches and Galápagos mockingbirds giving us more practice at not only identifying the different finch species but learning their calls.
Returning to the beach we found a dozen sea turtles in the surf. One female had laboriously climbed up on the beach to rest, escaping the amorous attentions of some of the more persistent males.
In the afternoon as our final excursion, we landed on an immense Aa lava field, a type of basaltic lava flow made up large angular blocks that were transported by a molten core, similar to a horizontal landslide, from Volcan Cerro Azul. Some of us embarked on a challenging hike across these barren and broken lava flows of Punta Moreno. The immense extent of this Aa field was an reminder of the enormity of the basaltic eruptions here and the devastating effect on the wildlife. Fissures, fractures and collapse features within the crust of the lava field created several small, hidden, brackish water lagoons where we found shorebirds such as the common moorhen, greater flamingos, white-cheeked pintail duck, and the black necked stilts. The highlight of the afternoon was the first live sighting in many years of a sora! Previously records were of 3 dead birds found on Marchena, Santiago, and Tower. This amazing finding will be submitted as a new official record for the Islands.
Another group of guests experienced a fantastic panga ride along the coast. We motored slowly across calm mangrove lagoons where we observed golden rays and eagle rays, and large schools of yellow tailed mullet. Magnificent frigates were nesting high in the trees and juvenile pelicans roosted in the shrubs where their nests had been only a few months ago. We enjoyed watching the sea lions, enormous iguanas, satiated boobies and a few penguins resting on guano covered rocks.
Today, we were fortunate to explore an infrequently visited part of the coastline of the largest island in the Galápagos Archipelago, Isabela. This island was created by the fusion of six enormous shield volcanoes giving rise to its characteristic “seahorse” shape. In the morning, we landed at Urbina Bay, on the western coast of Isabela, on a beach at the base of Alcedo Volcano, one of its active volcanoes which last erupted in 1993. There were long and short hiking options this morning. The trail took us inland to view the dramatic uplift of the coastline that occurred in 1954. This uplift, caused by magma moving upwards under the volcano, rapidly raised a 5 km stretch of coral reef 4 meters above sea level stranding much of the marine life, including large corals, turtles, fish and lobsters. We saw many large coral heads located far inland. As we walked the trail, we also saw many other signs of the underwater origin of the land – shells, wave-rounded cobbles, and sea urchin segments.
Further inland in the dry lowlands, we were fortunate to encounter several brightly colored yellow-orange land iguanas. All around us were their burrows which they use for thermoregulation to keep warm at night or cool during the day. The trees along the path were filled with scores of ground finches and Galápagos mockingbirds giving us more practice at not only identifying the different finch species but learning their calls.
Returning to the beach we found a dozen sea turtles in the surf. One female had laboriously climbed up on the beach to rest, escaping the amorous attentions of some of the more persistent males.
In the afternoon as our final excursion, we landed on an immense Aa lava field, a type of basaltic lava flow made up large angular blocks that were transported by a molten core, similar to a horizontal landslide, from Volcan Cerro Azul. Some of us embarked on a challenging hike across these barren and broken lava flows of Punta Moreno. The immense extent of this Aa field was an reminder of the enormity of the basaltic eruptions here and the devastating effect on the wildlife. Fissures, fractures and collapse features within the crust of the lava field created several small, hidden, brackish water lagoons where we found shorebirds such as the common moorhen, greater flamingos, white-cheeked pintail duck, and the black necked stilts. The highlight of the afternoon was the first live sighting in many years of a sora! Previously records were of 3 dead birds found on Marchena, Santiago, and Tower. This amazing finding will be submitted as a new official record for the Islands.
Another group of guests experienced a fantastic panga ride along the coast. We motored slowly across calm mangrove lagoons where we observed golden rays and eagle rays, and large schools of yellow tailed mullet. Magnificent frigates were nesting high in the trees and juvenile pelicans roosted in the shrubs where their nests had been only a few months ago. We enjoyed watching the sea lions, enormous iguanas, satiated boobies and a few penguins resting on guano covered rocks.
