Todays’ outings in Genovesa could inspire a kid’s bedtime story, filled with interesting animal characters and lots of action. Several guests saw a male frigate bird displaying his impressive gular pouch but right on top of a red-footed booby nest. It was obvious that he had stolen the place, as the young chick had been kicked down to the lower branches. When the parent booby came back, probably to feed its young one, it got extremely upset. She (we believe it was the mother) charged the frigate with all she had: her feet, her beak, her weight. The male frigate pecked at her, and twisted her neck for a while, but the female managed to escape. She was not going to give up. She came back, again and again, until the male frigate, which had been displaying with his wings completely spread out, got entangled in the branches and could no longer fend off the determined booby. After minutes of persistent attacks, the frigate ended up on the ground, giving up the stolen nest. The mother booby reunited with her chick, and not long after the fight was over, the male booby joined in. He might have been watching!
Other groups encountered Morgan, the one-eye owl, which inhabits the last cave at Prince Phillip’s steps. There he was, quiet and apparently satisfied, due to the abundance of storm petrels in the area, which are his favorite prey. Due to the absence of the Galapagos hawk on this island, the short-eared owl has taken the place of top predator on Genovesa, and they have even evolved to hunt during the day time, to maximize their chances of catching storm petrels.
In the water, our naturalist Tommy met with his old time friend, a black-tipped reef shark he has named Juanito. We were hopeful that he would be spotted today, as he is often found along the north-western inside rim of Genovese caldera; and sure enough, there he was waiting to entertain our snorkelers. Some of our guests had the luxury of encountering a few hammerhead sharks as well.
Our exploration of Genovesa today was like a fairytale; we could take our time and stop for a moment, to enjoy every detail. On each bush, rock, on land or underwater, there was a story to observe, a story to tell, and it is so lovely when there is a story one can share.
