Isabela Island
Enough wildlife seems to be not a valid expression today. We have been exposed to surprising sightings, one after the other, from sunrise to sunset.
We cruised this morning along the northern tip of Isabela Island and discovered an amazing pod of Pilot whales. They were divided in three smaller pods, each consisting of approximately thirty individuals. It was possible to see large males, up to six meters long and numerous females. They were quietly resting on the surface, showing their willingness to share this sea with bottle nosed dolphins. The dolphins would come for quick inspections to the National Geographic Endeavour, ride her bow, and disappear in seconds in today’s crystal clear waters, quite unusual for this place, due to the high concentration of plankton.
The seas were quite calm, a cool breeze was in the air, and the sighting of Ecuador Volcano, right on the equator line, was our destination to what proved to be one of the most exciting snorkels we have had up to now. The clear waters allowed us to see sea turtles, large schools of fish, penguins fishing in the water, sea lions diving and, like never before, Pacific sun-fish or Mola mola. There were a number of them, some quite shallow and some others deeper. This unusual fish likes the depths and comes up to the surface occasionally to be exposed to a “cleaning station,” where small saber-tooth blennies clean them up!
Before we knew it, it was time for us to leave and continue our expedition en route to Fernandina Island. There, in the afternoon, we walked amongst hundreds of marine iguanas, sea lions and the famous flightless cormorants.
At sunset, we observed a large flock of frigates that were feeding next to a local fishing boat, and they delighted us with their acrobatic maneuvers.
