Featured Articles
APR 2021
5 Min Read
10 Top Wildlife Moments from the Bering Sea & Beyond
In Brief
Daily Expedition Reports
Sep 19
Read
National Geographic Islander
Espanola Island
Espanola Island is home to many species of animals found only here. Española marine iguanas, Espanola lava lizards, Espanola albatrosses, Espanola land snakes, and the Espanola mockingbird are just a few.
Sep 19
Read
National Geographic Venture
Cruising and Sucia Island
This morning we cruised through the San Juan Archipelago then stopped on the eastern side of Sucia Island for an afternoon of hiking and kayaking. Fog cleared early in the day leading to a beautiful sunny day of exploring the island above and below water.
Sep 19
Read
National Geographic Endeavour II
Espanola Island
First day! Amazing start! The morning started with the typical cool season weather for Galapagos—inversion layer hanging over us, muted sunrise, dry-looking island to starboard, even dryer-looking islet to our port side. But my-oh-my...after breakfast we set out first towards the little islet known as Gardner Islet off Espanola (because there's another next door, off Floreana). Deep-water snorkelers had already heard about how the logistics work here on National Geographic Endeavour II , so when we arrived a few minutes later, our experienced snorkelers got ready in no-time, and into the 68-degree ocean water we went! The first comment I received was "There's nothing here," to which I shouted, "Get closer to the rocks!" And sure enough, there it all was. If you are accustomed to snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef – then yes, Galapagos is different. Rocky reefs instead of coral reefs. But there were the coral hawkfish, giant hawkfish, damselfish, creolefish, groupers, angelfish, and the variety of sea stars and urchins – fabulous! On the beach later, everyone was captivated by the sea lions. They were resting, sleeping, fidgeting, waving off flies, sneezing. Doing all that mammals do on a regular basis, yet here we were two meters away, as interesting as a rock to them. Accepted, ignored...it was strangely wonderful to be in their world. The afternoon was another world entirely. Punta Suarez is renowned for the sea bird colonies that inhabit the area: waved albatross, Nazca boobies, blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, as well as land birds to include Darwin finches of the small-beaked ground, warbler finches, and Espanola ground-type. All seen, accordingly documented on our list. Espanola marine iguanas, Espanola mockingbirds, Espanola ground finch; it tells you something...that this island is special. Isolated, unique, hard-to-colonize, founder effect: genetic drift. All has had significant impact on the resident wildlife here; all exhibit the results in their unique genetic makeup and morphological differences. What a place!
Sep 19
Read
National Geographic Islander
Punta Pitt and Cerro Brujo, San Cristobal Island
This morning, National Geographic Islander dropped anchor in front of Punta Pitt, the eastern most point of the archipelago. We spent our morning hiking to the top of a hill and from there, spotted blue- and red-footed bobbies. Later, we went swimming and snorkeling off the green sandy beach of Punta Pitt. More amazing wildlife was seen when we headed toward Cerro Brujo as we were fortunate enough to have a small pod of bottlenose dolphins ride the bow and be our companions for some time. When we arrived, we were welcomed by curious sea lions; what a great afternoon!
Sep 19
Read
National Geographic Venture
Friday Harbor and Sucia Island
Back in the U.S. of A! After a far-too-short amount of time in British Colombia we cleared back into the United States as we docked in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, Washington. A bitter-sweet feeling as our trip coasted down towards the finish, but a fine day of adventure we had before us. Visiting the iconic Whale Museum of Friday Harbor is always a treat and learning about the legends, facts, and plights of the resident Killer Whales in Washington was great. As the lunch announcement was made, we cast off the lines and sailed for Sucia Island. Translating to “dirty” island, the small group of islets is a navigational trick as many rocky reefs extend offshore. This is due to the unique and beautiful geology there. Many new birds and a few mammals were seen from shore walks and kayaks as we spent the last few daylight hours of our epic trip through the Inside Passage, basking in autumnal sun.