Isabela and Fernandina Islands
Today we had a magnificent day on the western region of the Galápagos archipelago. We visited the youngest islands of Isabela and Fernandina. Our day began looking for animal activity, and we found some blue-footed boobies feeding and a very exciting sighting of the endemic Galapagos petrel.
We went to the north western corner of Isabela Island, Punta Vicente Roca, and as we dropped anchor, a huge manta ray went by the ship and under our Zodiacs, staying stayed for a little while. During the Zodiac ride, we found lots of sea turtles, Galápagos penguins, and some Galápagos flightless cormorants carrying nesting material to their mates.
One special sighting was the ocean sun fish (Mola mola) swimming amongst the floating algae, looking for its favorite food: jelly fish. We followed that immense fish for some time. I was amazed by the size of this fish, as it could have easily weighted 2,000 pounds.
After our amazing Zodiac ride, we went snorkeling. Pacific green sea turtles appeared everywhere feasting on algae and resting on the bottom. We just swam along with them, and they did not show any awareness of our presence.
For the afternoon, we departed for Fernandina Island, and on the way, we were amazed by a couple of Bryde’s whales, one in particular was curious and very friendly. It allowed us to be about 10 yards away from it before it disappeared in the deep waters of Bolivar’s channel which separates Fernandina and Isabela islands.
We arrived to Fernandina Island and had a gorgeous afternoon with many male marine iguanas establishing territories by adopting aggressive postures and full color displays. Some were more successful with several females surrounding them; others were less lucky and didn’t have any lady friend.
We enjoyed very much observing wildlife so close and unafraid of us. This is one of the many aspects why Galápagos is considered to be a true paradise where innocence can still be found in its primordial stage.
Today we had a magnificent day on the western region of the Galápagos archipelago. We visited the youngest islands of Isabela and Fernandina. Our day began looking for animal activity, and we found some blue-footed boobies feeding and a very exciting sighting of the endemic Galapagos petrel.
We went to the north western corner of Isabela Island, Punta Vicente Roca, and as we dropped anchor, a huge manta ray went by the ship and under our Zodiacs, staying stayed for a little while. During the Zodiac ride, we found lots of sea turtles, Galápagos penguins, and some Galápagos flightless cormorants carrying nesting material to their mates.
One special sighting was the ocean sun fish (Mola mola) swimming amongst the floating algae, looking for its favorite food: jelly fish. We followed that immense fish for some time. I was amazed by the size of this fish, as it could have easily weighted 2,000 pounds.
After our amazing Zodiac ride, we went snorkeling. Pacific green sea turtles appeared everywhere feasting on algae and resting on the bottom. We just swam along with them, and they did not show any awareness of our presence.
For the afternoon, we departed for Fernandina Island, and on the way, we were amazed by a couple of Bryde’s whales, one in particular was curious and very friendly. It allowed us to be about 10 yards away from it before it disappeared in the deep waters of Bolivar’s channel which separates Fernandina and Isabela islands.
We arrived to Fernandina Island and had a gorgeous afternoon with many male marine iguanas establishing territories by adopting aggressive postures and full color displays. Some were more successful with several females surrounding them; others were less lucky and didn’t have any lady friend.
We enjoyed very much observing wildlife so close and unafraid of us. This is one of the many aspects why Galápagos is considered to be a true paradise where innocence can still be found in its primordial stage.
