Isabela & Fernandina Islands
This was a day with gold-rimmed edges because we started and finished with whale sightings. Early in the morning, before breakfast, some of us were on the outer deck looking for whales, dolphins, or sea birds, and just enjoying a quiet sunrise. The calm waters north of Isabela are good for whale-watching, although a light breeze had set in soon after 6:30a.m. Our breakfast was interrupted by sightings of common dolphins, and, to top it off, we saw a killer whale near the coast. Our backdrop was the now-extinct, but still giant Ecuador Volcano beaming down on us. Here you can see the trans-section of a shield volcano, since half of it collapsed some 50,000 years ago, causing an enormous tsunami across the Pacific.
Later in the morning we got to see the wildlife at this tip of Isabela. We snorkeled and drifted with flightless cormorants, manta rays, green sea turtles, Galápagos sea lions, ocean sunfish, Galápagos penguins, marine iguanas, and many different reef fish. The water was calm and the conditions were perfect for viewing all these unique animals up-close and personal.
The reason we find such a density of wildlife here at Vicente Roca point is the upwelling of the nutrient –rich Cromwell current. Starting off the Australian coast, moving eastbound, this 300-foot -deep undercurrent is about 1000 times the volume of the Mississippi River.
In the afternoon, we visited Espinoza Point on Fernandina Island. This walk led us along fresh lava flows interrupted by coves and beaches. Some mixed mangroves are practically the only green vegetation at this site, apart from the endemic lava cacti. But the real attraction here is the vast numbers of marine iguanas, posing in all positions and allowing us to take close-up photos.
We also saw Galápagos hawks, many Galápagos sea lions, green sea turtles and flightless cormorants. The swells from the north made for beautiful glassy breaks on the outer reefs, and covered the site in a misty cloud of salt. The effect was an almost mystical atmosphere, and many of us walked on in silence, soaking up the beauty of Galápagos.
We were cruising into the sunset when a minke whale showed up, just before we turned in to have dinner and enjoy a talk by our guest speaker of this week, Professor Jere H. Lipps.
