Floreana Island
This morning we had a very early wet landing at Post Office Bay. We headed to the beach from on board via our black Zodiacs, from which we spotted many Pacific green sea turtles surfacing to breath. Once we disembarked, we walked a very short trail to visit the famous post office barrel.
Floreana itself is one of the best islands on the Archipelago to talk about the human history of this enchanted place. Back in the early 1700’s to the late 1800’s, whalers from North America and Europe came to these islands to search for fresh water and food; the famous giant tortoises were captured because of their fresh meat. This tragic event put these creatures very close to extinction. These people brought with them domestic animals which later became feral, and started to compete for food, or prey on our native and endemic species.
After this early visit, we started our navigation toward the next visitor site. As soon as we anchored we started getting ready for our first experience in the Galápagos waters at Champion Islet. This water visit site was a snapshot of the different species of fish that we have here. From tropical colorful and cold water species, all can be spotted here. This is due to the three main currents that affects Galápagos: Humboldt current that comes from the Antarctic bathing the western coast of south America and then turning west to the Galápagos, and it’s a cold water current; Panama flow, that comes from the north (Panama) to finally bath the Galápagos in warm waters; and Cromwell current, a cold rich underwater current that comes from the west toward the eastern Pacific.
Once in the water we spotted lots of fish, sharks, turtles and the playful Galápagos sea lions. In the afternoon we finally disembarked at Cormorant point on a green sand beach. Right behind the beach we saw a brackish lagoon with flamingos; they share this habitat with white chick Bahama ducks and black necked common stilts. We finished our day with a beautiful sunset and happiness.
This morning we had a very early wet landing at Post Office Bay. We headed to the beach from on board via our black Zodiacs, from which we spotted many Pacific green sea turtles surfacing to breath. Once we disembarked, we walked a very short trail to visit the famous post office barrel.
Floreana itself is one of the best islands on the Archipelago to talk about the human history of this enchanted place. Back in the early 1700’s to the late 1800’s, whalers from North America and Europe came to these islands to search for fresh water and food; the famous giant tortoises were captured because of their fresh meat. This tragic event put these creatures very close to extinction. These people brought with them domestic animals which later became feral, and started to compete for food, or prey on our native and endemic species.
After this early visit, we started our navigation toward the next visitor site. As soon as we anchored we started getting ready for our first experience in the Galápagos waters at Champion Islet. This water visit site was a snapshot of the different species of fish that we have here. From tropical colorful and cold water species, all can be spotted here. This is due to the three main currents that affects Galápagos: Humboldt current that comes from the Antarctic bathing the western coast of south America and then turning west to the Galápagos, and it’s a cold water current; Panama flow, that comes from the north (Panama) to finally bath the Galápagos in warm waters; and Cromwell current, a cold rich underwater current that comes from the west toward the eastern Pacific.
Once in the water we spotted lots of fish, sharks, turtles and the playful Galápagos sea lions. In the afternoon we finally disembarked at Cormorant point on a green sand beach. Right behind the beach we saw a brackish lagoon with flamingos; they share this habitat with white chick Bahama ducks and black necked common stilts. We finished our day with a beautiful sunset and happiness.
