The flightless cormorant, Nonnopterum (Phalacrocorax) harrisi, is the only one of the twenty-nine species of living cormorants that has lost the ability to fly. Our cormorant friend is about to start fishing. It raises its wings to let the water get in, displacing the air trapped in the feathers; in this way it reduces buoyancy. We saw the whole sequence during our panga ride along the coastline of Fernandina. We watched a cormorant in action! This adult individual caught an octopus, but octopuses are not easy prey so we watched a long fight between predator and quarry. The octopus was trying to strangle the flightless bird with its tentacles, so the cormorant took it up to the surface and flung it hard on the surface of the water. We did not see the end of the story, because both cormorant and octopus disappeared underwater and we had a great island waiting for us. We guess the cormorant won, but we really will never know.