Northern Isabela & Fernandina Islands
I woke all our guests just before 0700 this morning; there were 4-6 small whales surfacing and diving about a half mile ahead of us. They proved to be extremely elusive whales however, so only those who had risen early and were already on deck saw them in the distance. The whales dove, disappeared and we never really got a good enough sighting to positively identify them. From their size and behavior I am pretty certain they were Cuvier’s beaked whales, but I guess we will never really know for sure….
Soon after breakfast we rounded the northern point of Isabela Island. Awesome!!! The eruption on Fernandina is still going strong! To our delight, in the distance we could see the huge billowy white steam cloud above Fernandina that confirms that lava is still rushing down the southwestern flanks of the volcano and falling violently into the cold ocean. Hurray!
The morning Zodiac ride at Punta Vicente was exciting! I have never seen such big swells or such huge waves breaking so high up the rocky beaches and tuff cliffs. In spite of the rough water we counted over two dozen sea turtles along our census line. We also enjoyed watching flightless cormorants, sea lions, fur seals, noddy terns, and boobies. There was a single penguin, looking much trimmer and not nearly so unkempt, sitting in exactly the same spot he had been last week. His feathers have come in and his molt is almost complete, so I am sure he will return to the water soon. Many of our group jumped, dived or stepped from the ship to swim in the chilly waters of the upwelling Cromwell Current after the hot, but interesting Zodiac ride.
We disembarked earlier than usual this afternoon, at 1400, as we had done the week before, so that we can navigate to the eruption site before the sun sets. Our walk along the rugged coast of Punta Espinoza, Fernandina, was marvelous. Fernandina is not only one of the world’s most active volcanoes, but it is also one of the world’s most pristine tropical islands. Here there are no introduced plants or animals to compete with the original native and endemic fauna and flora.
The afternoon highlights included nesting flightless cormorants, piles of gigantic marine iguanas, the ubiquitous and charming sea lions – some resting, some cavorting – and a Galapagos snake. We were reluctant to hurry along a bit at this spectacular spot – however our eagerness to see the eruption did keep us moving. As soon as we returned to the ship the Captain ordered our boson to haul up the anchor and we headed west around Fernandina towards the setting sun. In anticipation of an exciting night of volcano viewing, we rested on deck and in our cabins or watched a National Geographic video about the dragons of Galápagos (the iguanas) while the NG Islander navigated three hours along the coast of the Island.
We reached the southwestern flank of Fernandina just as the sun was setting. It is absolutely amazing how different the eruption now looked! Most of the show this week was from the single vent that produced a lava fountain that was shooting molten material at least 1000 feet into the air! The fountain was three or four times as tall as previously. Instead of a single thread of a fast moving lava river rushing to the sea to produce a gigantic steam cloud, by now the lava river was wide and cooling and covered the entire flank of the volcano below the vent. Only very little lava now actually reached the sea.
We photographed and watched the ever-changing lava fountain for an hour and a half and then, as we descended to dine, the Captain moved on south and east along the shore of Fernandina to anchor by 2200 at Urbina Bay. It had been a full and exciting day and for many of our guests, this was their first unforgettable sight of a volcanic eruption!
For more details about the eruption see our Blog (entry dated 4/17/2009).
I woke all our guests just before 0700 this morning; there were 4-6 small whales surfacing and diving about a half mile ahead of us. They proved to be extremely elusive whales however, so only those who had risen early and were already on deck saw them in the distance. The whales dove, disappeared and we never really got a good enough sighting to positively identify them. From their size and behavior I am pretty certain they were Cuvier’s beaked whales, but I guess we will never really know for sure….
Soon after breakfast we rounded the northern point of Isabela Island. Awesome!!! The eruption on Fernandina is still going strong! To our delight, in the distance we could see the huge billowy white steam cloud above Fernandina that confirms that lava is still rushing down the southwestern flanks of the volcano and falling violently into the cold ocean. Hurray!
The morning Zodiac ride at Punta Vicente was exciting! I have never seen such big swells or such huge waves breaking so high up the rocky beaches and tuff cliffs. In spite of the rough water we counted over two dozen sea turtles along our census line. We also enjoyed watching flightless cormorants, sea lions, fur seals, noddy terns, and boobies. There was a single penguin, looking much trimmer and not nearly so unkempt, sitting in exactly the same spot he had been last week. His feathers have come in and his molt is almost complete, so I am sure he will return to the water soon. Many of our group jumped, dived or stepped from the ship to swim in the chilly waters of the upwelling Cromwell Current after the hot, but interesting Zodiac ride.
We disembarked earlier than usual this afternoon, at 1400, as we had done the week before, so that we can navigate to the eruption site before the sun sets. Our walk along the rugged coast of Punta Espinoza, Fernandina, was marvelous. Fernandina is not only one of the world’s most active volcanoes, but it is also one of the world’s most pristine tropical islands. Here there are no introduced plants or animals to compete with the original native and endemic fauna and flora.
The afternoon highlights included nesting flightless cormorants, piles of gigantic marine iguanas, the ubiquitous and charming sea lions – some resting, some cavorting – and a Galapagos snake. We were reluctant to hurry along a bit at this spectacular spot – however our eagerness to see the eruption did keep us moving. As soon as we returned to the ship the Captain ordered our boson to haul up the anchor and we headed west around Fernandina towards the setting sun. In anticipation of an exciting night of volcano viewing, we rested on deck and in our cabins or watched a National Geographic video about the dragons of Galápagos (the iguanas) while the NG Islander navigated three hours along the coast of the Island.
We reached the southwestern flank of Fernandina just as the sun was setting. It is absolutely amazing how different the eruption now looked! Most of the show this week was from the single vent that produced a lava fountain that was shooting molten material at least 1000 feet into the air! The fountain was three or four times as tall as previously. Instead of a single thread of a fast moving lava river rushing to the sea to produce a gigantic steam cloud, by now the lava river was wide and cooling and covered the entire flank of the volcano below the vent. Only very little lava now actually reached the sea.
We photographed and watched the ever-changing lava fountain for an hour and a half and then, as we descended to dine, the Captain moved on south and east along the shore of Fernandina to anchor by 2200 at Urbina Bay. It had been a full and exciting day and for many of our guests, this was their first unforgettable sight of a volcanic eruption!
For more details about the eruption see our Blog (entry dated 4/17/2009).
