Pacheca, Pachequilla and Bartolome. Pearl Islands
Today was our first day in the Pacific Ocean, outside of the Panama Canal. We started our day very early at Pacheca and Pachequilla islands, just two of the 130 plus islands and islets that are part of the Pearl Islands. The Pearl Islands (Las Perlas Archipelago) got their name from the large quantities of pearls that were extracted during colonial times; its most famous gem is a 31-carat, 400-year-old Peregrine pearl, now owned by The Elizabeth Taylor collection.
In more recent times, the Pearl Islands have hosted personalities such as the Shaw of Iran, John Wayne, Julio Iglesias, Jimmy Buffet, Guy Harvey, Pierce Brosnan and most recently, the cast of CBS’s reality show, Survivor.
We had a very successful morning during our Zodiac outings around Pacheca and Pachequilla Island. The light was perfect for photography! Warm, horizontal golden light, perfectly illuminated the active birds on a blue background of ocean and sky. We saw many other bird species: blue-footed boobies, magnificent frigate birds, brown pelicans, yellow crowned night herons and American oystercatchers.
Later we briefly visited the tiny island of Bartolome, to relax and experience the contrast of the warm white sandy beach and cool water. After lunch, National Geographic Sea Lion set up for the longest leg of traveling this week. Tomorrow we are aiming to visit a new destination for our itinerary, Jicarita Island. During our sailing we avidly kept watch for possibilities of marine life, and were greatly rewarded by one of these beautiful events that occur now and then in nature. We were led by following a mother and calf humpbacked whale to a huge feeding frenzy, easily visible from far away where thousands of brown pelicans plunged diving continuously, among brown boobies, laughing gulls, sandwich terns, royal terns, wedge tailed shearwaters and pantropic spotted dolphins.
Our afternoon was special with a show performed by at least four Bride’s whales, which boldly approached our vessel to participate in the feast. All of the activity was reflected on our bow; with all of us running back and forth trying to see and photograph them all while they were still in sight. An impressive amount of activity everywhere, enhanced by the sound of continuous and repetitive, bursts of camera shutters. Today, we were definitely granted with one of those very special expressions of nature that we always wait for.
