Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Dolphins & Sunrise sounds like a cocktail (a very good one, by the way), but far from being a cocktail (especially at this time of the morning) it was precisely what we got today when the sun was barely appearing at the horizon. We were traveling along the northern side of Isabela Island when I got the call from the bridge. I hesitated whether or not to call the guests at this time in the morning, but as soon as I got outside, I knew instantly that nobody would mind an early wake up call today.
Despite their name, Common dolphins are not so common in the Galápagos; we were lucky to have the keen eyes of our first officer, Byron, looking for any interesting sightings in the area. There was a group of at least three hundred dolphins traveling and searching for what would become a school of very unlucky fish, as dolphins are very good preying on several species that are found all over the Galápagos waters.
During our observation, we could see different behaviors performed by several individuals scattered all over the pod. There were several of them jumping so high that we could even see their bellies, as they fell sideways on the water. This acrobatic maneuver could be interpreted as the way certain dominant individuals make their location known among the pod. There were several of them that occasionally slapped their tails really hard on the water several times, in what is well known as “tail lobbing” which is also interpreted as a typical command given by a dominant male.
Of course, for most of us observing them this morning, their performances were nothing else but the pure ritual of encountering another life form, or maybe the way they celebrate life and the nature surrounding them. In any case, the opportunity to see their full bodies out of the water became a challenge for a great picture to most of us carrying a camera; the good thing about something like this happening in such circumstances, is that even without a camera, the picture of dolphins jumping this morning would be in your memories a lot longer than a print…
Dolphins & Sunrise sounds like a cocktail (a very good one, by the way), but far from being a cocktail (especially at this time of the morning) it was precisely what we got today when the sun was barely appearing at the horizon. We were traveling along the northern side of Isabela Island when I got the call from the bridge. I hesitated whether or not to call the guests at this time in the morning, but as soon as I got outside, I knew instantly that nobody would mind an early wake up call today.
Despite their name, Common dolphins are not so common in the Galápagos; we were lucky to have the keen eyes of our first officer, Byron, looking for any interesting sightings in the area. There was a group of at least three hundred dolphins traveling and searching for what would become a school of very unlucky fish, as dolphins are very good preying on several species that are found all over the Galápagos waters.
During our observation, we could see different behaviors performed by several individuals scattered all over the pod. There were several of them jumping so high that we could even see their bellies, as they fell sideways on the water. This acrobatic maneuver could be interpreted as the way certain dominant individuals make their location known among the pod. There were several of them that occasionally slapped their tails really hard on the water several times, in what is well known as “tail lobbing” which is also interpreted as a typical command given by a dominant male.
Of course, for most of us observing them this morning, their performances were nothing else but the pure ritual of encountering another life form, or maybe the way they celebrate life and the nature surrounding them. In any case, the opportunity to see their full bodies out of the water became a challenge for a great picture to most of us carrying a camera; the good thing about something like this happening in such circumstances, is that even without a camera, the picture of dolphins jumping this morning would be in your memories a lot longer than a print…
