Española Island
Today we spent the whole day exploring the southeastern island of Española. We started our adventure in paradise with a very enjoyable first visit, when we disembarked at Punta Suarez. Here we witnessed a true explosion of wildlife: sea lions, lava lizards, mocking birds, Nazca boobies and swallow -tailed gulls were all over the place; not to mention the unique subspecies of marine iguana that inhabits the southern sector of the archipelago. The latter is particularly spectacular at this time of year, its breeding season, with its red and turquoise coloration.
Not only is the uniqueness of the animals astonishing, but the seeming indifference they show in our presence, giving us an eye-full then returning to whatever it was they were doing. This apparent tameness, a result of the oceanic nature of the archipelago and lack of mammalian predators, has convinced all previous visitors that this is a place unique in the world.
Not only are the land creatures worthy of notice however, in fact the marine environment is just as unique. We have a huge variety of tropical fish species here, including surgeonfish, parrotfish, angelfish and moorish idols, and the highest rate of endemism worldwide among fish. During lunch we lifted anchor and sailed about 6 nautical miles to the east to visit another spectacular area of Española, a dazzling white beach bathed in turquoise waters. In the afternoon we had fantastic time exploring the underwater world of the archipelago, either by donning snorkeling gear or taking a glass bottom boat ride, and immerse ourselves in the swirling colors of hundreds of different reef fish. I used our digital video camera in its underwater housing to bring back some great footage of this underwater wildlife, made even more spectacular by crystal clear waters and sunshine, and we all relived our adventure this evening at recap time.
Today we spent the whole day exploring the southeastern island of Española. We started our adventure in paradise with a very enjoyable first visit, when we disembarked at Punta Suarez. Here we witnessed a true explosion of wildlife: sea lions, lava lizards, mocking birds, Nazca boobies and swallow -tailed gulls were all over the place; not to mention the unique subspecies of marine iguana that inhabits the southern sector of the archipelago. The latter is particularly spectacular at this time of year, its breeding season, with its red and turquoise coloration.
Not only is the uniqueness of the animals astonishing, but the seeming indifference they show in our presence, giving us an eye-full then returning to whatever it was they were doing. This apparent tameness, a result of the oceanic nature of the archipelago and lack of mammalian predators, has convinced all previous visitors that this is a place unique in the world.
Not only are the land creatures worthy of notice however, in fact the marine environment is just as unique. We have a huge variety of tropical fish species here, including surgeonfish, parrotfish, angelfish and moorish idols, and the highest rate of endemism worldwide among fish. During lunch we lifted anchor and sailed about 6 nautical miles to the east to visit another spectacular area of Española, a dazzling white beach bathed in turquoise waters. In the afternoon we had fantastic time exploring the underwater world of the archipelago, either by donning snorkeling gear or taking a glass bottom boat ride, and immerse ourselves in the swirling colors of hundreds of different reef fish. I used our digital video camera in its underwater housing to bring back some great footage of this underwater wildlife, made even more spectacular by crystal clear waters and sunshine, and we all relived our adventure this evening at recap time.
