Isabela and Fernandina Islands
A motivating, thrilling, and spectacular week is sadly ending today. This week has been one of these few ones that will be remembered for a long time both by us and our special guests. Two exciting four days trips have been made, the first one with local teachers and the second one with an enthusiastic group of Galápagos high school students.
These expeditions have been a real success not only due to their obvious connotations but for the quality of the wildlife sightings we all had the thrill to observe. Today it has been a fantastic whale of a day! Early in the morning while cruising along Isabela Island, we spotted a pod of pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Later, during our Zodiac ride along Volcan Ecuador, we had a remarkable encounter. Just coming back from snorkeling with Pacific green turtles, we spotted the unmistakable huge fin of an orca whale (Orcinus orca). These beautiful whales are not usually spotted around the Galápagos. Immediately, we jumped back into the Zodiacs, some still dressed with wetsuits. I am writing to you these short paragraphs just some minutes after coming back onboard after this wonderful sighting. It is not easy for me to express in few words all the array of feelings and emotions the whole event evoke. In the Zodiac I was in, almost all the guests were teenager girls, every time the orca whale appeared the whole place was filled with cheerful screams and laughter. Today we had a fantastic close encounter with them. Some of the cetaceans were so close to the Zodiacs that we could hear their blows rising up to the air. But the surprises were not over. By radio, the officers told us that whales were spotted once again, only this time there were tropical or Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). Yesterday we saw bottlenose dolphins (Tursiups truncates). We have seen four cetaceans’ species in four days; this is a record for the Islander. Happiness, unforgettable memories, and the hope of a brighter future for the Galápagos can be physically and spiritually seen in all the faces of the Galápagos students. What a great experience!
A motivating, thrilling, and spectacular week is sadly ending today. This week has been one of these few ones that will be remembered for a long time both by us and our special guests. Two exciting four days trips have been made, the first one with local teachers and the second one with an enthusiastic group of Galápagos high school students.
These expeditions have been a real success not only due to their obvious connotations but for the quality of the wildlife sightings we all had the thrill to observe. Today it has been a fantastic whale of a day! Early in the morning while cruising along Isabela Island, we spotted a pod of pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Later, during our Zodiac ride along Volcan Ecuador, we had a remarkable encounter. Just coming back from snorkeling with Pacific green turtles, we spotted the unmistakable huge fin of an orca whale (Orcinus orca). These beautiful whales are not usually spotted around the Galápagos. Immediately, we jumped back into the Zodiacs, some still dressed with wetsuits. I am writing to you these short paragraphs just some minutes after coming back onboard after this wonderful sighting. It is not easy for me to express in few words all the array of feelings and emotions the whole event evoke. In the Zodiac I was in, almost all the guests were teenager girls, every time the orca whale appeared the whole place was filled with cheerful screams and laughter. Today we had a fantastic close encounter with them. Some of the cetaceans were so close to the Zodiacs that we could hear their blows rising up to the air. But the surprises were not over. By radio, the officers told us that whales were spotted once again, only this time there were tropical or Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). Yesterday we saw bottlenose dolphins (Tursiups truncates). We have seen four cetaceans’ species in four days; this is a record for the Islander. Happiness, unforgettable memories, and the hope of a brighter future for the Galápagos can be physically and spiritually seen in all the faces of the Galápagos students. What a great experience!
