Hood Island
Our first visit of the year to Hood Island was marked with a distinct temperature difference on our morning’s walk: the hot season is almost here! Along with this, we typically saw the last few albatross about to make their weary way to the cliffs, eager to explore the Pacific until April when they return to breed.
We were all overwhelmed with the sea lions, marine iguanas, Nazca boobies (with newborn chicks) and lava lizards but it’s the unusual things…the unpredictable, that really excite us naturalists! For example, some of us had a close encounter with a Bryde’s whale and calf after the morning walk. The snorkeling offered views of spotted eagle rays and a curious turtle. Who will ever forget the Galapagos hawk landing on a branch on the beach and watching us very closely, enabling some very intimate shots indeed! Due to the mottled appearance on its chest, we can tell that this particular hawk was a recently fledged juvenile. Very curious at this age, the hawks are known to land on humans, as they do other animals.
Our fantastic day ended with a feeding frenzy at the stern of the vessel just before our evening recap. A school of yellow-finned tuna was trapping small fish on the water’s surface, and at the same time, creating white water. The noise sounded like a rushing river!
Maybe our day hasn’t ended! Who knows what we’ll see on our way to Floreana...
Our first visit of the year to Hood Island was marked with a distinct temperature difference on our morning’s walk: the hot season is almost here! Along with this, we typically saw the last few albatross about to make their weary way to the cliffs, eager to explore the Pacific until April when they return to breed.
We were all overwhelmed with the sea lions, marine iguanas, Nazca boobies (with newborn chicks) and lava lizards but it’s the unusual things…the unpredictable, that really excite us naturalists! For example, some of us had a close encounter with a Bryde’s whale and calf after the morning walk. The snorkeling offered views of spotted eagle rays and a curious turtle. Who will ever forget the Galapagos hawk landing on a branch on the beach and watching us very closely, enabling some very intimate shots indeed! Due to the mottled appearance on its chest, we can tell that this particular hawk was a recently fledged juvenile. Very curious at this age, the hawks are known to land on humans, as they do other animals.
Our fantastic day ended with a feeding frenzy at the stern of the vessel just before our evening recap. A school of yellow-finned tuna was trapping small fish on the water’s surface, and at the same time, creating white water. The noise sounded like a rushing river!
Maybe our day hasn’t ended! Who knows what we’ll see on our way to Floreana...
