Floreana Island
Floreana Island, also known as the mystery island, is one of the nicest islands that we have in this archipelago. This morning we had the opportunity to visit the famous Post Office Bay. This particular bay was very popular in the 1800s, when many whaling boats passed through these islands. After our short walk to the barrel, we took a Zodiac cruise among small rocky islets where lazy sea lions bask amongst giant prickly pear cactus trees. After breakfast we had the opportunity to snorkel around an island called Champion, where we saw an unbelievable amount of wildlife: sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, manta rays, fish of many different colors – truly impressive! Everyone on board was so enthralled about the visit that they were talking about it all afternoon!
After lunch we took a nature walk in an area called Cormorant Point, where we walked along the shores of a lagoon with many flamingos. It was great! I carried our digital camera and had the great opportunity to take a picture of one of the rarest sea lions in Galapagos, maybe the world: an albino sea lion. If you have been following our web site, you may know that we have been following her life for the past nine months or so. I say “her” because we now know that it’s a female albino sea lion. We thought that this sea lion would not make it beyond a few weeks of life due to her lack of resistance to the sun’s harmful rays, but today we came across her once again. She still has a pink coloration to her pectoral and rear flippers, eyes and nose: the big problem is that she cannot open her eyes due to over-sensitivity to UV light. We all support this little sea lion in her fight for survival, and will let you know how she does, week after week, month after month, and year after year.
Floreana Island, also known as the mystery island, is one of the nicest islands that we have in this archipelago. This morning we had the opportunity to visit the famous Post Office Bay. This particular bay was very popular in the 1800s, when many whaling boats passed through these islands. After our short walk to the barrel, we took a Zodiac cruise among small rocky islets where lazy sea lions bask amongst giant prickly pear cactus trees. After breakfast we had the opportunity to snorkel around an island called Champion, where we saw an unbelievable amount of wildlife: sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, manta rays, fish of many different colors – truly impressive! Everyone on board was so enthralled about the visit that they were talking about it all afternoon!
After lunch we took a nature walk in an area called Cormorant Point, where we walked along the shores of a lagoon with many flamingos. It was great! I carried our digital camera and had the great opportunity to take a picture of one of the rarest sea lions in Galapagos, maybe the world: an albino sea lion. If you have been following our web site, you may know that we have been following her life for the past nine months or so. I say “her” because we now know that it’s a female albino sea lion. We thought that this sea lion would not make it beyond a few weeks of life due to her lack of resistance to the sun’s harmful rays, but today we came across her once again. She still has a pink coloration to her pectoral and rear flippers, eyes and nose: the big problem is that she cannot open her eyes due to over-sensitivity to UV light. We all support this little sea lion in her fight for survival, and will let you know how she does, week after week, month after month, and year after year.
