Floreana Island
Floreana is an island that has an extremely rich human history, not only because the Ecuadorian goverment claimed possession back in 1835 by establishing a small settlement here, but also because during the sixteen and seventeen hundreds this particular place was often visited by British whalers, pirates and buccaneers.
The mail barrel was placed at Post Office Bay by James Colnett back in 1793 with the purpose of keeping friends and family connected during the long voyages that British whalers took around the south Pacific region of the world. We have managed to keep this tradition alive.
Also known as the Mystery Island, Santa Maria is where strange events occurred with the early colonizers, back in the 1920’s.
The snorkeling conditions were extremely good today. We had a chance to see different species of fish, known as tropical reef fish. Even on the bay,l we had a couple of close encounters with the Galapagos sharks while snorkeling.
In the afternoon, Punta Cormorant was nice and calm. Three Flamingos in the distance gave us a chance to learn about their behavior. The white sandy beach was a wonderful surprise for all of our guests. They had a great time finding out that flour-like sandy beaches really are made of parrot fish pups; it is the calcium carbonate that the fish expel l from their systems after digestion.
As we headed back to the ship at sunset, we all had a clear idea that humans can co-exists with other species; this place today is looking as good as it looked back in the days when the early colonizers took possession of the islands.
