Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Isabela and Fernandina islands, found on the western side of the Galápagos archipelago, are the most remote. In order to reach this isolated realm, the National Geographic Polaris completed a long navigation. We started our day searching in the surrounding waters for marine mammals and other large creatures. Around this remote area there is a strong upwelling that brings nutrient-rich cold waters that flow from the Western Pacific. Northern Isabela Island is crossed by the equatorial line, so a little ceremony was held as our ship re-entered the southern hemisphere!
Once a safe anchorage was reached, we all prepared for our first exploration of the morning: a Zodiac ride along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca. This area is rich both in spectacular scenery and wildlife. Along the shores we marveled at the sightings of Galápagos penguins, flightless cormorants, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, amongst other seabirds. Around the Zodiacs, countless Pacific Green Sea turtles of all sizes surrounded us, but the best of the morning was still to come: a small pod of Orca whales were spotted not far from us! Due to the abundance of prey in this region, these predators are not an unusual sighting in Punta Vicente Roca. It appeared that the Orcas were looking for food. It seemed like the two Orca adults were training a very young juvenile orca that was traveling with them. What a spectacular sighting!
We visited Fernandina Island in the afternoon; this paradise was one of the highlights of our week. Fernandina Island is probably one of the last, relatively pristine islands in the world. From the distance, it looks like a black island devoid of life, but upon approaching the coasts of Punta Espinosa we discover its amazing wildlife: hundreds of marine iguanas bask in the sun on the rocky shores. It is the end of their egg-laying season, so we could observe several females digging boroughs in the sandy ground. Not far from them, at the little peninsula, we discovered small groups of flightless cormorants. These amazing birds are only found along the coasts of Fernandina and Western Isabela. In the absence of predators, they have lost their ability to fly, having reduced their wingspan to an almost ridiculous size. Perching on the surrounding mangrove trees was a Galápagos hawk, the top avian predator of the Galápagos.
The warm sun was setting as we were leaving to return to the National Geographic Polaris. We could rightly say that this was another spectacular day in this remote paradise.
To see video footage from today's expedition, click here.
