South Plaza Island & Santa Fe
A light mist locally called Garua blankets the shore of near Santa Cruz Island and our destination, South Plaza. This miniscule island was uplifted from the seafloor most likely prior to a volcanic eruption on Santa Cruz. The basalt lava beds are rounded from their formation underwater and oceanic erosion prior to the volcanic action that thrust them up. When considering small islands, species densities may be small however we encounter a high density of Galápagos land iguanas among the Opuntia prickly pear and the Galápagos carpet weed. The population of land iguanas is so dense that that have cross bred with Galápagos marine iguanas and produced hybrids which appear with black and white bars on their backs. Many red billed tropic birds and swallow tailed gulls float above our heads as the frigate birds look for opportunistic feeding prospects. As we come to the southern cliffs we encounter many male sea lions that have not gained sufficient age or weight to take a breeding colony of their own. Bachelor colonies will also contain extremely large males that have “retired” from the difficult task of protecting their own territory. The all familiar bellow is heard as we come close to the edge of the bulls’ hangout. Far from the bulls very young sea lion pups play in the shallows awaiting their mothers to return and give them rich milk. Upon our return to our floating home we spot blue skies through the clouds and our day continues to brighten. Our Captain starts to raise anchor as we take a plankton tow from the water, everyone is eager to see what microscopic creatures can be seen with the stereo microscope onboard. Surprised looks abound when we find a completely different world in a few drops of seawater.
Santa Fe appears so different from what we have encountered up to this day as the coloration and overall geology is distinct. Lightly shaded steep cliffs are in the distance with dark basalt flows along the coast. We start our afternoon with kayaking along the rock face of the coast and we find brown noddies and pelicans patrolling the shoreline. In the distance Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, and Gordon rocks can be seen. Snorkelers find that sea lions once again are in the mood for play with bubble blowing and swimming in circles. A large Galápagos shark makes an appearance and we enjoy this majestic creature as it passes. A squadron of spotted eagle rays hovers through the water column as we find a Pacific green sea turtle feeding on the abundant green algae. The turquoise bay is rich with Galápagos sand dollars and diamond sting rays. Time is short as the sun sets quickly close to the equatorial line and we head to the ship to dry off and head out to hike. A washed out gully is our path as we gain altitude to the higher cliff areas. An Opuntia prickly pear forest surrounds us as we search for the Santa Fe land iguana and as soon as we spoke the words one is found lounging on the rocks. The cacti seem to grow before us as we reach the top of the precipice with a spectacular view of our anchorage and the surrounding azure ocean. We return to the ship that nods in the waves and the sun paints us with its last light.
