Northern Isabela & Fernandina Islands
The sun rose this morning at 0559 and reflected pink and orange on a mirror-calm sea; we had absolutely perfect conditions for spotting whales and dolphins! Even before the optional wake up call, we sighted 4-6 small whales about a half mile ahead of the National Geographic Islander. We approached them slowly and as I had expected/feared they surfaced only a few times, then dove and disappeared. We had seen a similar pod of small whales with the same behavior last week and once again I am fairly certain these elusive whales were Cuvier’s beaked whales. But as these shy whales so often do, they dove before we could positively identify them. Flocks of storm petrels, soaring Galápagos sheer waters and a lone, curious red-footed booby entertained us until we spied a group of common dolphins. About thirty dolphins leapt and splashed off our bow and we followed them until they swerved to the north while we continued on south.
In actuality, by the time we crossed the Equator line at 0825, all “pollywogs” had turned to “shellbacks” several hours earlier since the ship had first crossed the line in the wee morning hours while we slept peacefully. This time as we crossed back into the southern hemisphere we joined Captain Pablo in a countdown while watching the GPS turn to 000.00, blasted the ship’s horn, and did the limbo under a blue, red and yellow banner the colors of the Ecuadorian flag.
Next on our agenda was a Zodiac cruise along the rugged coastline of Northern Isabela. We spotted over two dozen sea turtles, flightless cormorants both fishing and drying their wings on shore, marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, both Nazca and blue-footed boobies, frigate birds…our list goes on and on. Some of us glimpsed a few bottle-nosed dolphins and a couple Mola mola, the large Pacific sunfish. Our snorkel outing immediately followed the Zodiac cruise, and it was fabulous! We had clear, calm water so that our delighted snorkeling experts and rookies alike were able to swim among the many feeding sea turtles, and follow darting penguins, diving cormorants and a few grazing marine iguanas.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the lava fields of northeastern Fernandina. This island is one of the most volcanically active and one of the most pristine and undisturbed places on our planet. As we stepped carefully across the lava cracks and boulders we observed piles of huge marine iguanas, and many hatchlings, the nests of a few flightless cormorants, and other cormorants courting, several sea turtles (including a yellow morph), an adult Galápagos hawk, some sea lions resting, pups that were cavorting and two bulls fighting.
As soon as we were back on board and the crew had lifted and stored our fleet of floating black limos (the Zodiacs), we hauled up anchor and for the third time this month we headed for the site of the recent eruption on the southwestern flank of Fernandina. The sun, an odd shade of neon orange, set into the volcanic haze and night fell, as we strained our eyes, hoping to discern signs that the eruption still continued. Someone called out, we all looked, and a happy shout rose from the bow of the ship where most of our guests were gathered. We could see the vent, still smoldering, and a small section of lava river where it exits a second lower vent. On the lower slopes and down along the shore, there were glowing patches of still molten material surrounded by the cooling black lava. This was a tame show compared to the two previous weeks but for those of us who were watching, it was still exciting – after all it was AN ERUPTION!
First Officer Fernando held the ship just off the coast. At one point we were no more than 350 yards from the rocks, and after about an hour of gazing and discussing we were rewarded: lava blasted out of the vent, thrown 20-30 meters into the dark night sky. We cheered and laughed, it seemed that the volcano, in its death throes perhaps, had spewed forth once more JUST FOR US! This show even I had not expected – hoped for, yes, but not expected.
Soon we moved south and then east to anchor at the base of Volcan Alcedo where we will disembark and hike tomorrow. What a fabulous finish to an unforgettable day!
The sun rose this morning at 0559 and reflected pink and orange on a mirror-calm sea; we had absolutely perfect conditions for spotting whales and dolphins! Even before the optional wake up call, we sighted 4-6 small whales about a half mile ahead of the National Geographic Islander. We approached them slowly and as I had expected/feared they surfaced only a few times, then dove and disappeared. We had seen a similar pod of small whales with the same behavior last week and once again I am fairly certain these elusive whales were Cuvier’s beaked whales. But as these shy whales so often do, they dove before we could positively identify them. Flocks of storm petrels, soaring Galápagos sheer waters and a lone, curious red-footed booby entertained us until we spied a group of common dolphins. About thirty dolphins leapt and splashed off our bow and we followed them until they swerved to the north while we continued on south.
In actuality, by the time we crossed the Equator line at 0825, all “pollywogs” had turned to “shellbacks” several hours earlier since the ship had first crossed the line in the wee morning hours while we slept peacefully. This time as we crossed back into the southern hemisphere we joined Captain Pablo in a countdown while watching the GPS turn to 000.00, blasted the ship’s horn, and did the limbo under a blue, red and yellow banner the colors of the Ecuadorian flag.
Next on our agenda was a Zodiac cruise along the rugged coastline of Northern Isabela. We spotted over two dozen sea turtles, flightless cormorants both fishing and drying their wings on shore, marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, both Nazca and blue-footed boobies, frigate birds…our list goes on and on. Some of us glimpsed a few bottle-nosed dolphins and a couple Mola mola, the large Pacific sunfish. Our snorkel outing immediately followed the Zodiac cruise, and it was fabulous! We had clear, calm water so that our delighted snorkeling experts and rookies alike were able to swim among the many feeding sea turtles, and follow darting penguins, diving cormorants and a few grazing marine iguanas.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the lava fields of northeastern Fernandina. This island is one of the most volcanically active and one of the most pristine and undisturbed places on our planet. As we stepped carefully across the lava cracks and boulders we observed piles of huge marine iguanas, and many hatchlings, the nests of a few flightless cormorants, and other cormorants courting, several sea turtles (including a yellow morph), an adult Galápagos hawk, some sea lions resting, pups that were cavorting and two bulls fighting.
As soon as we were back on board and the crew had lifted and stored our fleet of floating black limos (the Zodiacs), we hauled up anchor and for the third time this month we headed for the site of the recent eruption on the southwestern flank of Fernandina. The sun, an odd shade of neon orange, set into the volcanic haze and night fell, as we strained our eyes, hoping to discern signs that the eruption still continued. Someone called out, we all looked, and a happy shout rose from the bow of the ship where most of our guests were gathered. We could see the vent, still smoldering, and a small section of lava river where it exits a second lower vent. On the lower slopes and down along the shore, there were glowing patches of still molten material surrounded by the cooling black lava. This was a tame show compared to the two previous weeks but for those of us who were watching, it was still exciting – after all it was AN ERUPTION!
First Officer Fernando held the ship just off the coast. At one point we were no more than 350 yards from the rocks, and after about an hour of gazing and discussing we were rewarded: lava blasted out of the vent, thrown 20-30 meters into the dark night sky. We cheered and laughed, it seemed that the volcano, in its death throes perhaps, had spewed forth once more JUST FOR US! This show even I had not expected – hoped for, yes, but not expected.
Soon we moved south and then east to anchor at the base of Volcan Alcedo where we will disembark and hike tomorrow. What a fabulous finish to an unforgettable day!
