Early in the morning we started our expedition on a satellite island called South Plaza. Today is Land-Iguana day!
Uplifted by magmatic pressure, this sea floor becomes a small island which is now the home for many seabirds, lava lizards, finches, impressive cacti, colorful succulent plants, marine and land iguanas all at close proximity. In Biology this is a wonderful gift, for its small biodiversity becomes a predictable ecology easy to understand. We could see how it all works together, how all is associated like connecting dots to reveal a big picture we call evolution.
We took a mile and a half walk over boulders surrounded by wildlife. Our guests were immediately greeted by land iguanas and swallow tailed gulls. We reached the cliff and soon enough we were caressed by a cool, pleasant breeze which helped the sea birds to stay aloft, an updraft on one side of this small island brought birds within reach for us to enjoy--Frigate birds, Galapagos shearwaters, swallow tailed gulls, and the long awaited red-billed tropic bird.
Plaza has a unique landscape and flora. We saw prickly pear cacti with trunks like trees, yet another unique adaptation for an archipelago that, even though it is located on the equator, is clearly not a typical tropical island. Today we were impressed by a territorial fight from more than 18 male iguana’s clustering into a ball of commotion and agitation. So what do you call a group of iguanas? Well, we don’t know, but that was surely a “mess” of iguanas.
Soon we returned and started a fun activity, swimming from the ship. Clearly we have become bounded by this magical place, as we laughed with joy as we jumped from the ship. Some of us opted for a Human History talk and/or hands-on photo instruction.
As we had lunch our ship repositioned to our next site, Santa Fe Island. Here we started with a fun water activity, snorkeling. Today we saw sea lions, rays, turtles, and of course lots of fish. We had a great time exploring the warm turquoise water.
Soon after, we disembarked for a mile walk over boulders searching for the Santa Fe land iguana, a different species which can only be found here and nowhere else in the world. This place has two white sandy beaches, so some of us opted to stay and watch the sea lions play and they even “invaded” our personal space, which was fun and endearing for all of us.
We are now back onboard ready for our recapitulation and briefing about our next visitor site for tomorrow. As I saw our guests eagerly talking about their experiences, I felt very fortunate to be part of this wonderful expedition. It’s a journey of discovery you can only experience to understand, for we know this place is impossible to describe. It’s a place with unique landscapes and wildlife that has no fear, inviting us to return to nature.
