Bartolome Island
I imagine that none of us will ever forget this morning. After an early pre-breakfast hike to the summit of the 350-foot tuff cone named Bartolome, where we observed the vividly picturesque volcanic landscapes and the lava formations, we came back on board the Polaris to have a well-earned hearty breakfast.
After this, we started with water activities; and for those wanting to experience the marine life without getting wet we offered several glass-bottom boat outings. This ingenious vessel makes it possible for our guests to become truly immersed in the underwater world of the Galapagos Archipelago, without actually donning the equipment we offer on board.
We saw large numbers of sea stars (the prima donna of the oceans) of all sizes and colors. It was so amazing we thought for a moment we were watching the sky during a clear night due to the crystal clear conditions of the ocean today. Our guests were astonished at seeing them, because of the bright colors. We identified most of them, they were red cushion, yellow pyramid and chocolate chip sea stars. And of course we could not miss the common reef fish of the Galapagos Archipelago: yellow-tailed surgeonfish, king angelfish, Mexican hogfish and several different parrotfish.
Towards the end of this outing, we found a guineafowl pufferfish, surrounded by a group of white reef shark which were resting on the sandy substrate found near caves. Although oceanic sharks never stop swimming due to their lack of a buoyancy-giving swim-bladder, shallow water species of shark such as these often lie still on the bottom, occasionally swimming lazily around in circles. This particular species can actually grow as large as seven feet long.
These and other great sightings made this an outing never to be forgotten.
I imagine that none of us will ever forget this morning. After an early pre-breakfast hike to the summit of the 350-foot tuff cone named Bartolome, where we observed the vividly picturesque volcanic landscapes and the lava formations, we came back on board the Polaris to have a well-earned hearty breakfast.
After this, we started with water activities; and for those wanting to experience the marine life without getting wet we offered several glass-bottom boat outings. This ingenious vessel makes it possible for our guests to become truly immersed in the underwater world of the Galapagos Archipelago, without actually donning the equipment we offer on board.
We saw large numbers of sea stars (the prima donna of the oceans) of all sizes and colors. It was so amazing we thought for a moment we were watching the sky during a clear night due to the crystal clear conditions of the ocean today. Our guests were astonished at seeing them, because of the bright colors. We identified most of them, they were red cushion, yellow pyramid and chocolate chip sea stars. And of course we could not miss the common reef fish of the Galapagos Archipelago: yellow-tailed surgeonfish, king angelfish, Mexican hogfish and several different parrotfish.
Towards the end of this outing, we found a guineafowl pufferfish, surrounded by a group of white reef shark which were resting on the sandy substrate found near caves. Although oceanic sharks never stop swimming due to their lack of a buoyancy-giving swim-bladder, shallow water species of shark such as these often lie still on the bottom, occasionally swimming lazily around in circles. This particular species can actually grow as large as seven feet long.
These and other great sightings made this an outing never to be forgotten.
