Española Island
We started an exciting day on the south-eastern oldest island of the Archipelago. The Española mockingbird and marine iguana welcoming committee was ready at the landing site. The mockingbirds were doing the tourist inspection and the red marine iguanas were posing to impress the females with their red-brightness mating patterns, because the breeding season is beginning. While the sea lion pups were playing at the tide-pools or nursing, the big bulls were patrolling the territories. The rainy season is starting soon; nevertheless, the last albatrosses that visit the island during the dry season are still interacting and saying good-bye to each other for 3 months. They go to the open ocean and feed along the South-American coast, taking advantage of the Humboldt current cold waters.
By midday bottle-nosed dolphins were feeding, playing and bow-riding with us. Some sea lions joined the dolphin “sushi festival” and the piratical frigate birds were stealing the captured fish from each other in the air. It wasn’t a coincidence, but the Ecuadorian lunch pleased us, too.
Our water activities in the afternoon couldn’t be any better. The underwater world showed us its beauty and colored tropical fish like the King Angel and several species of odd-shaped swimmers like the Guineafowl puffer on its golden phase. Parrot fishes with powerful jaws, fused teeth or “beaks,” and bright colors are among the most common large fish seen on reefs. The fused teeth that give them their common names are used to scrape the algae and polyps which later become one of the major sources of white sandy beaches. Razor surgeon fishes were cooperatively schooling like yellow butterflies migrating. From the cartilaginous fish group we saw white-tipped reef sharks and white-spotted eagle rays; also a solitary sea turtle was seen. Finally, we enjoyed walking along the playful and curious sea lions territories. They were in all ages and stages.
An advantage working with nature is that every day gets better!
We started an exciting day on the south-eastern oldest island of the Archipelago. The Española mockingbird and marine iguana welcoming committee was ready at the landing site. The mockingbirds were doing the tourist inspection and the red marine iguanas were posing to impress the females with their red-brightness mating patterns, because the breeding season is beginning. While the sea lion pups were playing at the tide-pools or nursing, the big bulls were patrolling the territories. The rainy season is starting soon; nevertheless, the last albatrosses that visit the island during the dry season are still interacting and saying good-bye to each other for 3 months. They go to the open ocean and feed along the South-American coast, taking advantage of the Humboldt current cold waters.
By midday bottle-nosed dolphins were feeding, playing and bow-riding with us. Some sea lions joined the dolphin “sushi festival” and the piratical frigate birds were stealing the captured fish from each other in the air. It wasn’t a coincidence, but the Ecuadorian lunch pleased us, too.
Our water activities in the afternoon couldn’t be any better. The underwater world showed us its beauty and colored tropical fish like the King Angel and several species of odd-shaped swimmers like the Guineafowl puffer on its golden phase. Parrot fishes with powerful jaws, fused teeth or “beaks,” and bright colors are among the most common large fish seen on reefs. The fused teeth that give them their common names are used to scrape the algae and polyps which later become one of the major sources of white sandy beaches. Razor surgeon fishes were cooperatively schooling like yellow butterflies migrating. From the cartilaginous fish group we saw white-tipped reef sharks and white-spotted eagle rays; also a solitary sea turtle was seen. Finally, we enjoyed walking along the playful and curious sea lions territories. They were in all ages and stages.
An advantage working with nature is that every day gets better!
