'Twas a cool cloudy day at dawn, with the mists hanging short of our heads. The cool breeze invited us to join the wealth of wildlife that has grown in recent weeks to the summit we experienced today! After three hours on land, many of us could have remained at Punta Suarez for the rest of the day, and still not have completely absorbed the marine iguanas, albatrosses, huge school of sea lions, Nazca boobies and of course our recent colony of blue-footed boobies. We could continue with the fledglings of the land birds like the large cactus and medium ground finch, and the smallest of all Galapagos birds, the tiny mouse-like fledglings of the warbler finch.
The albatross seem to be enduring the effects of the rainfalls of last month. Many of them are still with eggs. The flies that bothered them recently appear to have died away and the tall grasses, which seem to impede their passage to and from the cliffs, have withered somewhat. This all leads to a new optimism in the success of this year's eggs and chicks.
The Waved albatross are rarely found at sea. A recent study suggests that the majority rarely roam outside of a triangular-shaped area from Galapagos to the South American continent along the coast of northern Peru. This area is renowned for it's rich currents. Although they've been seen to plunge into the surface of the water to obtain their food, they've also been observed stealing the recent catches of boobies in a fashion that the frigates would be proud of.
Their food consists mainly of fish, crustaceans and squid, the latter of which constitutes the greater part of their diet. Although rarely seen feeding at night, their large eyes (see photo) must enable more efficient night vision. This would explain the high proportion of squid, which comes to the surface of the ocean at night, providing a wealth of food only available to nocturnal feeders.
