Northern Isabela & Fernandina Islands

For the first hour of our early watch for marine mammals, we had to content ourselves with the fresh breeze in our faces, the silhouettes of the shield volcanoes to the south, Roca Redonda to the north, Galápagos shearwaters, wedge-rumped storm petrels, dark-rumped petrels, Nazca boobies, red-billed tropicbirds and hundreds of flying fish. Not bad, in any case - but just before we went below deck for breakfast, things got even better. We spied a small pod of common dolphins and then, two sperm whales!

We crossed from the northern into the southern hemisphere and below the magnificent cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. We explored the area in Zodiacs and observed many sea turtles, sea birds and marine iguanas, a few Galápagos penguins and our first flightless cormorants. The highlight of our morning was the hour we spent snorkeling. We had clear, warm water and were able to swim among the turtles, penguins, cormorants, marine iguanas and sea lions. The turtles ignored us completely; some of them were feeding on marine algae growing on the rocks and others were being cleaned by yellow tailed razor and king angel fish. The sea lions spun and twisted and played with us.

After lunch and siesta, we took a walk on Punta Espinoza, Fernandina.
Fernandina is the world’s second most active volcano, and it is also one of the most pristine tropical islands in the world. The dramatic landscape of broken lava flows, sandy shoreline and green mangroves against the blue ocean was spectacular. We walked among piles of marine iguanas, found cormorants at their nest sites, and delighted in the cavorting of the many cute baby sea lions.

As we returned to the ship, every one of our guests had a smile of contentment on his or her face; we had been privileged to witness a glimpse into the past with this visit to the unchanged island of Fernandina. These magical islands, with their fearlessness inhabitants and sweeping volcanic vistas, are like nowhere else on earth!