Floreana Island
An integral part of the total experience our guests live through on this trip, is that of exploring the marine ecosystems of this archipelago. Today we had a fantastic time snorkeling around Champion Islet.
We spent over an hour swimming among large schools of tropical fishes, sharks, rays and, of course, the ubiquitous sea lions that played with us for a long time. The spectacular walls of this offshore islet were also covered in invertebrates of all kinds the most remarkable of which were the echinoderms (sea stars and sea urchins), of which we saw several colorful species.
We recovered our strength with a wonderful culinary experience: a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, and after a traditional Ecuadorian siesta, we set off once again to explore some more of the underwater kingdom. Our site this time was Devil’s Crown, but just before disembarkation time a great surprise awaited us: our officers on the bridge spotted a large pod of bottlenose dolphins, so our plans changed. Snorkelers jumped in the water and were immediately surrounded by these majestic animals, whilst non-snorkelers drove along with the pod, which numbered well over a hundred individuals. There was much courtship and high spirits amongst these lovable marine mammals, many leaping clear out of the water, or bringing their flukes down hard in front of the Zodiacs to drench delighted onlookers. All naturalists agreed that rarely had they seen a pod accompanied by quite so many young calves, mostly riding obediently in their mother’s shadow, but occasionally breaking free for a moment of rebellion. It really was quite an experience watching their muscular bodies glide effortlessly through the waters.
An integral part of the total experience our guests live through on this trip, is that of exploring the marine ecosystems of this archipelago. Today we had a fantastic time snorkeling around Champion Islet.
We spent over an hour swimming among large schools of tropical fishes, sharks, rays and, of course, the ubiquitous sea lions that played with us for a long time. The spectacular walls of this offshore islet were also covered in invertebrates of all kinds the most remarkable of which were the echinoderms (sea stars and sea urchins), of which we saw several colorful species.
We recovered our strength with a wonderful culinary experience: a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, and after a traditional Ecuadorian siesta, we set off once again to explore some more of the underwater kingdom. Our site this time was Devil’s Crown, but just before disembarkation time a great surprise awaited us: our officers on the bridge spotted a large pod of bottlenose dolphins, so our plans changed. Snorkelers jumped in the water and were immediately surrounded by these majestic animals, whilst non-snorkelers drove along with the pod, which numbered well over a hundred individuals. There was much courtship and high spirits amongst these lovable marine mammals, many leaping clear out of the water, or bringing their flukes down hard in front of the Zodiacs to drench delighted onlookers. All naturalists agreed that rarely had they seen a pod accompanied by quite so many young calves, mostly riding obediently in their mother’s shadow, but occasionally breaking free for a moment of rebellion. It really was quite an experience watching their muscular bodies glide effortlessly through the waters.
