We began our first full day into our expedition into the Galapagos Islands with great excitement. Our morning destination today was to a small island just north of Baltra called North Seymour, which is known to be one of the highlights of the archipelago, due to the number of seabirds that inhabit it. We set foot ashore only to be greeted by one of the “locals,” a friendly juvenile Galapagos sea lion. North Seymour is located in an area of high productivity, and therefore has been chosen by various marine birds as their breeding grounds. Numerous magnificent and great frigates flew around us, showing of their fantastic aerial skills. We discovered that the more we moved inland the greater the number of frigate bird nests we could find. Many nesters were actually the juvenile, inexperienced frigates that were simply waiting to be fed by their returning parents, while a few male frigates had already puffed up their bright red pouches and were trying to attract a mate in the new breeding season. One of the most charismatic species of the islands is the blue-footed booby. Today we were very fortunate to have found several couples that seemed to be in the process of bonding in preparation to breed. North Seymour is also inhabited by a number of swallow-tailed gulls, many of which were having a rest along the shore. It was a well-earned daytime rest, as one has to remember that this species is a nocturnal hunter.
In the afternoon, after a short navigation, we moved on to Rabida Island, further north. This island is quite different to North Seymour: it is taller and more densely vegetated, and has a reddish appearance due to the iron oxide of its lavas. The waters that surround Rabida are very rich, so we began our afternoon activities with a snorkeling outing… and what an amazing experience it was! There were large schools of fish like the razor surgeons, king angel fish and salemas, but besides those were other creatures that make the Galapagos such a special place: Galapagos sea lions, reef sharks, andmarine iguanas. To our huge surprise the area was also visited by a Galapagos penguin and even a giant manta ray! After such an unbelievable experience we all returned back to the ship, as the afternoon activities were not over yet. We had a chance to visit Rabida Island, and get to see what creatures and plants live on that island. The landscapes lit up by the afternoon yellow light were stunning and strange… we are in the tropics yet the islands look dry and mysterious. Several land birds live amidst incense trees and prickly pears, like the Darwin finches and the Galapagos doves. The ever inquisitive Galapagos mockingbird kept a close inspection on us all the time, while as we walked we had to be careful not to step on the endemic lava lizards that warmed themselves on the trail. As the sun set we returned back to the landing beach where many Galapagos sea lions continued with their siesta, oblivious to our presence. On the horizon we could see the silhouettes of the young volcanoes of Isabela Island. Soon the anchor of our ship would be weighed and we would set our route towards them in the most remote area of the Galapagos archipelago.
