Punta Vicente Roca & Punta Espinosa
We were avidly looking at the horizon searching for whatever happened to be there. Roca Redonda appeared impressive in front of the National Geographic Endeavour with monolithic majesty. The wind screen captured our attention and we knew something was there, waiting to be discovered – or better said – to be sighted. At 07:20 the sighting took place. Way ahead of us a pod of whales revealed their position with strong but rather low blows. Even though they were afar, immediately we knew what they were; sperm whales!
In few minutes we were surrounded by a huge pod of giants that gently swam alongside and ahead of the ship. Their motion was captivating and we felt like giants ourselves. It was the typical eternity that lasted a few minutes but transported us like if we were a vague fugue into the universe. Yes, it was subliminal and we were into recovery from such a shock when another call came from the bridge. A pod of whales! This time orcas, and we couldn’t believe it.
This time we were dropping anchor at Punta Vicente Roca on northwestern Isabela Island and pretty soon the Zodiacs were deployed for us to go and take a closer look of these gentle marine mammals. Once again we were subject of these concoctions of stimuli that filled us with sensations hard to describe. We were blessed and touched by nature in such a way that I’m pretty sure our lives would not be the same after this.
During the afternoon visit we were able to relax by walking amidst the marine iguanas and sitting on the rocks to watch the ocean. Many pictures were taken as many ideas were organized. While the day came to an end and the realization of this settled on our minds, we were not really concerned because we were still processing our marvelous encounter with the spirits of nature.
