For our early morning outing we landed on North Seymour Island, one of the jewels of the crown of the Galapagos. The island is a flat platform that formed underwater and eventually rose above the water line, and has become the nesting site for some of the emblematic species of the Galapagos.
As we walked around we had the opportunity to find the Galapagos swallow-tailed gull protecting a very young chick, and some magnificent minor frigate birds that were actively taking care of their young in the nests. We walked across the island and spotted a few male land iguanas that were already displaying the mating behavior together with their beautiful bright colors. As we come to the end of the year, the species feel the changing conditions of the environment and start acting strangely. Most of them are getting into their mating behavior, and for us this always a sign of the changing seasons meaning warmer weather is approaching.
Strong winds in the afternoon made our access to the snorkeling site wet, but as we got into the water we were very satisfied with the beautiful color and the visibility, as conditions were just perfect. As we started we found many aggregations of tropical fish of many different colors. We also found a tiger sea snake hat that was pretty big and tame, we could get very close to it without scaring it away. As we continued snorkeling close to the rocks a couple of white-tipped reef sharks were sleeping on the sandy bottom while a Pacific green sea turtle came out to the surface to breathe right by our side!
In the late afternoon we took a stroll along the red sandy beach of Rabida. We walked among sea lions as the sun started to go down, and marveled. What a place.
As we walked back to the ship at sunset we could not feel any happier. We have had the privilege to share the island with its inhabitants that have made us feel like a part of their own world. What an experience!
