We started today with stretching classes, followed by a delicious breakfast. Our first activity of the day was a snorkeling excursion off the coast of Gardner Island, where we saw young California sea lions, indo pacific bonitos, yellow tailed surgeonfish, Galapagos sea stars, white tip reef sharks, king angels, blennies, hieroglyphic hawkish and others. We had a delightful morning, the weather was very warm and the water was clear. After a quick shower, we visited Gardner Beach, where more sea lions were waiting for us among large cactus finches and Hood mockingbirds.
In the afternoon, we visited Punta Suarez, which has the most colorful marine iguanas to be found in the Galapagos. Sexual selection has produced these red and green iguanas, like no others in the world. The trail led us to a cliff which is used as a takeoff point for waved albatrosses. Unfortunately none were to be found today—they will arrive later in the season, when the temperature is more agreeable for egg laying. At the edge of the cliff, there is a lava tube that ends in the ocean and has a fissure on top. As the waves pressurize, the water through the fissure creates a stream of water vapor that is shot high into the sky. Fittingly, the place has become known as the Blowhole, and it is the only place where a marine iguana was spotted flying! Apparently it crossed the crack just as it blew, and the iguana was lifted up into the air by the gust. The Flying Iguana is the title of a great book by David Quaman, which details this unusual event. We continued along the cliff, spotting red-billed tropicbirds, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and the only monogamous hawks in Galapagos.
What a great day this has been. It was difficult to tear ourselves away and return to the ship, but we know that more discoveries await us tomorrow, as we travel on through these mysterious and beautiful islands.
