Isabela and Fernandina Islands
They were just distant splashes through the binoculars at first. The sea was calm with no waves which made their presence easier to detect from afar. Other groups of common dolphins disappeared immediately after discovery as soon as the first did, but then as the morning continued another, larger group finally crossed the path of the Polaris and we could see their hourglass pattern emerge clearly as they leaped and jumped. A delightful beginning to an exciting day which had us crossing the equator line with mobula ray wingtips breaking the surface alongside the ship. Tiny fur seals porpoised nearby as the Galápagos petrels soared across our bow.
At Punta Vicente Roca, the Zodiacs brought us under the towering cliffs of red, volcanic ash held upright by dykes of basaltic lava, fallen into huge boulders along the shoreline where fur seals peeked out at us, penguins flitted past in an unusually large group of ten or more individuals. Flightless cormorants swam near shore, just their necks above the waterline, while the Pacific green marine turtles popped up their heads, gasped once, and then dove.
The call of the water on this hot morning had us jumping into the water a short time later in the bay, and the other-worldly presence of these same turtles kept us snorkeling a long time. Nutrients had been up-welling here on the western side of the archipelago, and the green water was filled with plankton, and minnows from who-knows-what-fish species clouded around us which brought penguins zipping by for some to glimpse. Too soon we left this corner for lunch and onward plans for the afternoon.
We had sailed maybe halfway to Fernandina when the call of “whale!” brought us to the bow of the ship. We suspect a Bryde’s whale, but the brief time it took on the surface was not enough to confirm the identification.
The afternoon was spent on shore at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island, with large, resplendent marine iguanas nodding heads at females and rivals; one conflict we witnessed was brief, but energetic. The competitors backed off, nodding vigorously at each other, recuperating for a possible future challenge for mating rights. A couple of flightless cormorants worked at building their nest up, bringing strands of seaweed for padding on the black, solid lava flow where they live.
The Galápagos are a harsh environment for all who live here, but natural selection has honed the resident life-forms over millions of years to make the most of what they have, both physically and behaviourally. Today we saw life on the edge; survival as it has been taking place since long before humans came along onto the stage.
They were just distant splashes through the binoculars at first. The sea was calm with no waves which made their presence easier to detect from afar. Other groups of common dolphins disappeared immediately after discovery as soon as the first did, but then as the morning continued another, larger group finally crossed the path of the Polaris and we could see their hourglass pattern emerge clearly as they leaped and jumped. A delightful beginning to an exciting day which had us crossing the equator line with mobula ray wingtips breaking the surface alongside the ship. Tiny fur seals porpoised nearby as the Galápagos petrels soared across our bow.
At Punta Vicente Roca, the Zodiacs brought us under the towering cliffs of red, volcanic ash held upright by dykes of basaltic lava, fallen into huge boulders along the shoreline where fur seals peeked out at us, penguins flitted past in an unusually large group of ten or more individuals. Flightless cormorants swam near shore, just their necks above the waterline, while the Pacific green marine turtles popped up their heads, gasped once, and then dove.
The call of the water on this hot morning had us jumping into the water a short time later in the bay, and the other-worldly presence of these same turtles kept us snorkeling a long time. Nutrients had been up-welling here on the western side of the archipelago, and the green water was filled with plankton, and minnows from who-knows-what-fish species clouded around us which brought penguins zipping by for some to glimpse. Too soon we left this corner for lunch and onward plans for the afternoon.
We had sailed maybe halfway to Fernandina when the call of “whale!” brought us to the bow of the ship. We suspect a Bryde’s whale, but the brief time it took on the surface was not enough to confirm the identification.
The afternoon was spent on shore at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island, with large, resplendent marine iguanas nodding heads at females and rivals; one conflict we witnessed was brief, but energetic. The competitors backed off, nodding vigorously at each other, recuperating for a possible future challenge for mating rights. A couple of flightless cormorants worked at building their nest up, bringing strands of seaweed for padding on the black, solid lava flow where they live.
The Galápagos are a harsh environment for all who live here, but natural selection has honed the resident life-forms over millions of years to make the most of what they have, both physically and behaviourally. Today we saw life on the edge; survival as it has been taking place since long before humans came along onto the stage.
