Northern Isabela & Fernandina Island
The ocean was calm, and a warm breeze blew into our faces, as we stood on deck in front of the bridge and searched the horizon for signs of marine mammals. The sun had just risen and south of us we could see the majestic silhouette of Wolf Volcano. Suddenly we spied several splashes ahead and off to our port, and soon we were able to distinguish common dolphins leaping and bounding not too far from the ship. I made a fairly quiet ship-wide announcement to alert those who had planned on sleeping in, and most of our guests hurried on deck with their cameras and binoculars. We had a grand dolphin show and especially enjoyed seeing several mother and calf pairs jumping in unison, side by side.
After breakfast we were about to reach the equator and return to the southern hemisphere, when Douglas spotted a whale spout between the ship and the shore. The Captain turned the National Geographic Islander and we were able to watch a Bryde’s whale resting and breathing for several minutes before it showed its back and dorsal fin as it dove down deep to feed. We crossed the equator with fanfare and “limbo,” continued south a few miles and anchored in a calm bay at the base of the collapsed Volcan Ecuador.
On our Zodiac cruise along the coast at Punta Vicente Roca, we found many marine creatures and sea birds. Boobies (blue-footed and Nazca), frigates, noddy terns, brown pelicans and tiny storm petrels were plentiful and busy either fishing or resting after having spent the morning feeding. The two flightless birds of Galápagos – penguins and cormorants - were seen both on land and in the water. Large marine iguanas, many sally crabs and several sea lions were on the rocky shore. Two of the Zodiacs found Mola mola, the strange pelagic sunfish that is flattened horizontally, has a tiny mouth for feeding on sea jellies and powers itself with two large fins (dorsal and ventral fins) that move from side to side like upright oars.
Our snorkel outing in the late morning was absolutely fabulous! The ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. There were sea turtles everywhere and what was particularly fun and interesting was that most of them were resting on the sandy bottom. I was in charge of the sea turtle counts today – we are gathering data for sea turtle research being carried out in conjunction with the Charles Darwin Station. We censused sea turtles along a transect, first from the Zodiac and then I snorkeled and took a second count. Never have I seen so many turtles sleeping, 28 of them, as they were today, all in one small area of the sea floor! Our guests were delighted to see these large, almost comical animals evenly spaced and quietly resting below us. In addition to turtles we saw cormorants, penguins, sea lions and many diverse fish while we snorkeled.
The afternoon’s walk at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island was also a great success. We landed at the cement dock with a high tide, but by the time the sun was setting in a blaze of orange and we were ready to return to the ship, the tide had fallen. We had to step cautiously out on the slippery lava rocks to reach the Zodiacs. What impressed us most on this walk were both the abundance and also the variety of life on the coast of this huge and apparently barren shield volcano. Fernandina is anything but barren; we found piles of adult marine iguanas and many skittish hatchling igies, sea lions, a snake, a giant and very tired female sea turtle hauled out on a tiny beach, a juvenile hawk and many turquoise eyed flightless cormorants.
The ocean was calm, and a warm breeze blew into our faces, as we stood on deck in front of the bridge and searched the horizon for signs of marine mammals. The sun had just risen and south of us we could see the majestic silhouette of Wolf Volcano. Suddenly we spied several splashes ahead and off to our port, and soon we were able to distinguish common dolphins leaping and bounding not too far from the ship. I made a fairly quiet ship-wide announcement to alert those who had planned on sleeping in, and most of our guests hurried on deck with their cameras and binoculars. We had a grand dolphin show and especially enjoyed seeing several mother and calf pairs jumping in unison, side by side.
After breakfast we were about to reach the equator and return to the southern hemisphere, when Douglas spotted a whale spout between the ship and the shore. The Captain turned the National Geographic Islander and we were able to watch a Bryde’s whale resting and breathing for several minutes before it showed its back and dorsal fin as it dove down deep to feed. We crossed the equator with fanfare and “limbo,” continued south a few miles and anchored in a calm bay at the base of the collapsed Volcan Ecuador.
On our Zodiac cruise along the coast at Punta Vicente Roca, we found many marine creatures and sea birds. Boobies (blue-footed and Nazca), frigates, noddy terns, brown pelicans and tiny storm petrels were plentiful and busy either fishing or resting after having spent the morning feeding. The two flightless birds of Galápagos – penguins and cormorants - were seen both on land and in the water. Large marine iguanas, many sally crabs and several sea lions were on the rocky shore. Two of the Zodiacs found Mola mola, the strange pelagic sunfish that is flattened horizontally, has a tiny mouth for feeding on sea jellies and powers itself with two large fins (dorsal and ventral fins) that move from side to side like upright oars.
Our snorkel outing in the late morning was absolutely fabulous! The ocean was calm and the visibility was excellent. There were sea turtles everywhere and what was particularly fun and interesting was that most of them were resting on the sandy bottom. I was in charge of the sea turtle counts today – we are gathering data for sea turtle research being carried out in conjunction with the Charles Darwin Station. We censused sea turtles along a transect, first from the Zodiac and then I snorkeled and took a second count. Never have I seen so many turtles sleeping, 28 of them, as they were today, all in one small area of the sea floor! Our guests were delighted to see these large, almost comical animals evenly spaced and quietly resting below us. In addition to turtles we saw cormorants, penguins, sea lions and many diverse fish while we snorkeled.
The afternoon’s walk at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island was also a great success. We landed at the cement dock with a high tide, but by the time the sun was setting in a blaze of orange and we were ready to return to the ship, the tide had fallen. We had to step cautiously out on the slippery lava rocks to reach the Zodiacs. What impressed us most on this walk were both the abundance and also the variety of life on the coast of this huge and apparently barren shield volcano. Fernandina is anything but barren; we found piles of adult marine iguanas and many skittish hatchling igies, sea lions, a snake, a giant and very tired female sea turtle hauled out on a tiny beach, a juvenile hawk and many turquoise eyed flightless cormorants.
