Floreana Island
Floreana Island is one of the southerly islands of the Galápagos archipelago. Early in the morning we woke up to see its magnificent outline at sunrise. The National Geographic Endeavour was already anchored at Post Office Bay, which was to be our first visit of the day. This is traditionally one of the most visited sites of the islands, perhaps since as early as 1793, at the beginning of the whaling era in the Galápagos. During periods as long as five years, whalers would be away from their beloved ones, with little or no communication with them, far away from home. Captain James Colnett, a Brit, placed a barrel here so homebound ships would make this bay their last stop in order to pick up letters they would be able to hand-deliver to their addressees. This tradition is still kept to this day, and many of our guests picked up postcards to deliver back in the USA, leaving their own in the hope that someone might reciprocate in the near future.
A very active morning had been programmed, so shortly afterwards we changed anchorage to nearby Champion Islet. This is the home of the last surviving population of the endemic Floreana mockingbird, a unique land bird that has disappeared from the island of Floreana due to the introduction of foreign species, like rats, cats and goats. During a Zodiac ride it was possible for us to spot a few Floreana mockingbirds, which were quite busy patrolling their territories on Champion. We were also amazed by the numbers of sea birds that have made this island their home, like the Galápagos shearwaters, red-billed tropic birds, blue-footed boobies, and many others. For quite a while we also observed a great blue heron standing on the rocky coast of this island, waiting for some prey.
The conditions of the sea today were excellent, and in crystal clear waters we found ourselves in an explosion of life. There were huge schools of fish everywhere, with species like king angel fish, razor surgeons, triggerfish, creoles, etc. Many of us also spotted several white-tipped reef sharks, Galápagos sea lions in the water and even diving blue-footed boobies!
Towards the afternoon, and after a well-earned rest, we continued with our exploration of Floreana Island. This time we landed at the olivine beach of Punta Cormorant. Behind this beach there is a brackish lagoon where a small population of flamingos is found. This resident species of the islands brings vibrant colors to this arid zone.
Besides the flamingos we also found other lagoon birds like the white-cheeked pintail duck, some black-necked common stilts and also a large group of whimbrels. The trail of Punta Cormorant takes us to a white-coralline beach. Because its sand grains are so fine, this beach is called ‘the flour beach’. Dozens of Pacific green sea turtle nests are found here, this being their breeding season. The surrounding scenery is stunning, and it gives us the opportunity to commune with this magical place.
Floreana and the rest of these remote islands are certainly worth preserving for our future generations.
