Isabela & Fernandina Island
"Good morning everyone!" Those were my first words today as we started early at 6:30 am to look for some marine life activity. We saw sea birds like petrels, shear-waters, terns, and boobies; some of these are called pelagic due the fact that they can be seen in the ocean for long periods of time either flying or floating passively on the water but without landing on firm land, some times even for years, like albatross. After an energetic breakfast we got ready for a panga-ride along Ecuador volcano cliff that is one of the most impressive landscapes in Galápagos. We also encountered along the way a fur sea lion colony for the first time; they are not that common because they are mainly nocturnal, their double thick hairs form a very dense fur, that’s the reason why they were hunted almost to the point of extinction in the twenties for their beautiful coats! Don’t worry… now we have synthetic fibers! After a few minutes we also saw many marine turtles, penguins and the one only cormorant in the world that has lost the ability to fly, and if that wasn’t enough we encountered a pacific sunfish, a rare animal that during his life is able to increase its original weight approximately fifty million times – they can reach five thousand pounds in weight!! We came back on board to get ready for snorkeling.
In the afternoon we landed on Fernandina Island which is considered the youngest island in the archipelago with an spectacular volcano called La Cumbre (1494 meters high) where we saw some of the largest colonies of marine iguanas; there is in average three thousand individuals per one kilometres of coast; we passed also very close to colonies of flightless cormorants; it was a hot afternoon as well. We came on board where there were cold drinks waiting for us.
"Good morning everyone!" Those were my first words today as we started early at 6:30 am to look for some marine life activity. We saw sea birds like petrels, shear-waters, terns, and boobies; some of these are called pelagic due the fact that they can be seen in the ocean for long periods of time either flying or floating passively on the water but without landing on firm land, some times even for years, like albatross. After an energetic breakfast we got ready for a panga-ride along Ecuador volcano cliff that is one of the most impressive landscapes in Galápagos. We also encountered along the way a fur sea lion colony for the first time; they are not that common because they are mainly nocturnal, their double thick hairs form a very dense fur, that’s the reason why they were hunted almost to the point of extinction in the twenties for their beautiful coats! Don’t worry… now we have synthetic fibers! After a few minutes we also saw many marine turtles, penguins and the one only cormorant in the world that has lost the ability to fly, and if that wasn’t enough we encountered a pacific sunfish, a rare animal that during his life is able to increase its original weight approximately fifty million times – they can reach five thousand pounds in weight!! We came back on board to get ready for snorkeling.
In the afternoon we landed on Fernandina Island which is considered the youngest island in the archipelago with an spectacular volcano called La Cumbre (1494 meters high) where we saw some of the largest colonies of marine iguanas; there is in average three thousand individuals per one kilometres of coast; we passed also very close to colonies of flightless cormorants; it was a hot afternoon as well. We came on board where there were cold drinks waiting for us.
