Española Island
This morning we woke up in front of the beautiful cliffs of Punta Suarez as several waved albatross and frigatebirds were flying over the island. The morning was overcast very early, but it started gradually to clear up while we were getting ready to disembark at 8:00 am for our first full day in the Galápagos Islands. When we arrived a curious mockingbird stood on our Zodiac and some new born sea-lion pups were moving around the boulders to greet us. It was a spectacular scene, and sally light-foot crabs and colorful marine iguanas were standing at the landing spot also.
As we started our walk, we were very surprised when we encountered a female sea-lion that had recently given birth. We found the placenta still attached to the mother and the new born pup was starting to feed for the first time. Several colorful marine iguanas were around the rocks. At this season the male marine iguanas start to develop a colorful display of green and red colors. One of these male iguanas suddenly walked between us and swam away into the sea.
Later we walked to the cliff and found hundreds of Nazca boobies. Some had already laid their eggs and were busy incubating, while others had newborn chicks with them. When we arrived to the albatross colony, we were very lucky to observe a pair of albatross courting for a moment, bill fencing as they were sitting on the ground. Suddenly we realized a group of three albatrosses were lined up and starting to take off from the cliff. Only three species of albatross are found in the North Pacific, nine species in the Southern Seas and only the one is found in the tropics, the waved albatross. It is found exclusively in Galápagos and on Isla de la Plata off the coast of mainland Ecuador.
During the afternoon we went to Gardner Bay on Española, where we find one of the most beautiful beaches at the Galápagos Islands. We went snorkeling around turtle rock, and as soon as we jumped in the water, found a spotted eagle ray, then hundreds of reef fish and finally a white tipped reef shark. Later we landed on the beach where the water was turquoise blue, very clear and with many sea lions around the shore. The day finished with a beautiful scene of a sunset with orange, red and violet colors.
This morning we woke up in front of the beautiful cliffs of Punta Suarez as several waved albatross and frigatebirds were flying over the island. The morning was overcast very early, but it started gradually to clear up while we were getting ready to disembark at 8:00 am for our first full day in the Galápagos Islands. When we arrived a curious mockingbird stood on our Zodiac and some new born sea-lion pups were moving around the boulders to greet us. It was a spectacular scene, and sally light-foot crabs and colorful marine iguanas were standing at the landing spot also.
As we started our walk, we were very surprised when we encountered a female sea-lion that had recently given birth. We found the placenta still attached to the mother and the new born pup was starting to feed for the first time. Several colorful marine iguanas were around the rocks. At this season the male marine iguanas start to develop a colorful display of green and red colors. One of these male iguanas suddenly walked between us and swam away into the sea.
Later we walked to the cliff and found hundreds of Nazca boobies. Some had already laid their eggs and were busy incubating, while others had newborn chicks with them. When we arrived to the albatross colony, we were very lucky to observe a pair of albatross courting for a moment, bill fencing as they were sitting on the ground. Suddenly we realized a group of three albatrosses were lined up and starting to take off from the cliff. Only three species of albatross are found in the North Pacific, nine species in the Southern Seas and only the one is found in the tropics, the waved albatross. It is found exclusively in Galápagos and on Isla de la Plata off the coast of mainland Ecuador.
During the afternoon we went to Gardner Bay on Española, where we find one of the most beautiful beaches at the Galápagos Islands. We went snorkeling around turtle rock, and as soon as we jumped in the water, found a spotted eagle ray, then hundreds of reef fish and finally a white tipped reef shark. Later we landed on the beach where the water was turquoise blue, very clear and with many sea lions around the shore. The day finished with a beautiful scene of a sunset with orange, red and violet colors.
