Today we started our day anchored on the northeast end of Santa Cruz Island. Right on the channel that separates two small rocky formations known as South and North Plazas.
South Plaza is a small colorful islet covered with a reddish succulent plant known as sesuvium that, along with the green of the prickly pear cacti, black of the basaltic rocks, and the turquoise of the surrounding waters make for an incredible landscape. The winds blowing from the south created an updraft current on the cliff that is used by seabirds such as swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed Boobies, frigate birds, and tropicbirds. This small islet has interesting flora- prickly pear cacti with bark, succulent plants, leather leaf, and thorny shrubs comprise the landscape of the area. Land iguanas were all over in large numbers coexisting with sea lions and today we had a special encounter with a mother and pup sea lion that was nursing. Just by our presence and observation we took in their social structure, bonding between mommy and puppy. Later on, our captain repositioned the ship as I gave a talk about Oceanic Currents and Fish Diversity of Galapagos.
In the afternoon kayaking and snorkeling in Santa Fe was one of our highlights! Sea lions were spotted in the bay surrounded by prickly pear cacti on the horizon. Our kayakers enjoyed turtles and sea lions as well as an outstanding view of Santa Fe Island. For the last activity of the day we had different paced hikes searching for land iguanas. As we went inland we were greeted by Galapagos hawks in flight, Santa Fe land iguanas, lizards and a huge colony of Galapagos sea lions that were very active on the coast.
We went back onboard for the night, ready to start our next navigation to our following destination. Surprises never end in such a magical place and there is still more to come on the enchanted islands.
