Punta Vicente Roca, Northern Isabela
Our day couldn’t have a better start, as the first thing we saw in the morning when coming out of our cabins was the magnificent view of the shield shape volcanoes from Isabela Island. The ocean breeze gently woke us up and welcomed us to a new day full of adventures.
We were still in the northern hemisphere, and our goal during the morning was to cross the equator line to southern hemisphere waters, to explore the coast line of Punta Vicente Roca. The clear skies let us all appreciate the exuberant beauty of the landscape, adorned mostly by giant volcanoes, dormant at the present, but with the still with the ability to wake up to show us the infinite power of mother earth.
Later on, as we were exploring our goal for the morning, we found it hard to concentrate in one species; the area is known to be a rich location for plankton productivity and it is the main reason why the abundance on animals and plants species. Sea turtles were found simply resting at the surface, replenishing the oxygen needed for their long underwater journeys. As they do not have too many threats, our presence was ignored, and we found this to be a common behavior in all the animals in the Galápagos. Penguins, flightless cormorants, sea lions, iguanas and boobies were found all along our Zodiac exploration and as if this was not enough, the famous Mola mola or Ocean Sunfish were also clearly observed. We finished our morning with a refreshing swim from the ship, just to take away the hit that was already building up.
We welcomed the afternoon visiting one of the most pristine areas in the Galápagos, and perhaps of the world. Fernandina Island, with its imposing five thousand feet volcano, was the perfect geological background that we all needed to understand the process of formation of these incredible islands.
