Galapagos, Genovesa island
Our experience today on the island of Genovesa has been extremely successful. It has been proven that our flexibility does not have limits. We prepare activities for almost every one of our groups on board the Polaris. Early morning outings -and not that early - combined with long and short walks were very popular among our guests. The opportunity to see the first rays of light from an island as pristine as Genovesa is a unique experience that our photography group could not refuse to have. Armed with gigantic lenses, tripods and all sort of camera equipment the happy group left the ship a little after six o’ clock. And as usual, the island was at its best! Groups of frigate birds with their pouches fully inflated were among the welcome committee, while red-footed boobies were just beginning their daily journey to the sea for foraging.
As the day went by, it was nice to see how the sky started to show more and more birds bringing nesting material back to their nesting sites.
For some of our guests, just walking on the beautiful coraline beach was enough. Walking along any shoreline can be a very rewarding experience. All that you need to do is to pay attention to small details and you might be able to discover amazing things. Today one of our guests found something that I haven’t seen in a while: a seahorse that had been washed on shore! Those creatures are extremely interesting, not only because of their curious body shape, but also from the behavioral point of view. The female seahorse plays only the briefest role in the parental care and delivery of the next generation. It is a strange reproductive procedure. The female produces the eggs and deposits them in a minute opening in the male’s brood pouch located under his tail. As she swims away, never again to see her offspring, it becomes the male responsibility to fertilize and incubates the eggs as well as to deliver the newborn. The incubation period lasts from eight to ten days only. When the male is ready to give birth, his body begins to move back and forth, tensing at intervals, as he thrusts forward his bulging pouch. Slowly the pouch opens he begins to eject his offspring, usually one at a time. Such “labor pains” continue for several hours after which several dozens to many hundreds of baby seahorses have been born, depending on the species. Having performed this birth function, the male seahorses leave the babies to care for themselves. They at once begin swimming in search of suitable blades of grass around which they can twist their tales and begin to grow.
Our experience today on the island of Genovesa has been extremely successful. It has been proven that our flexibility does not have limits. We prepare activities for almost every one of our groups on board the Polaris. Early morning outings -and not that early - combined with long and short walks were very popular among our guests. The opportunity to see the first rays of light from an island as pristine as Genovesa is a unique experience that our photography group could not refuse to have. Armed with gigantic lenses, tripods and all sort of camera equipment the happy group left the ship a little after six o’ clock. And as usual, the island was at its best! Groups of frigate birds with their pouches fully inflated were among the welcome committee, while red-footed boobies were just beginning their daily journey to the sea for foraging.
As the day went by, it was nice to see how the sky started to show more and more birds bringing nesting material back to their nesting sites.
For some of our guests, just walking on the beautiful coraline beach was enough. Walking along any shoreline can be a very rewarding experience. All that you need to do is to pay attention to small details and you might be able to discover amazing things. Today one of our guests found something that I haven’t seen in a while: a seahorse that had been washed on shore! Those creatures are extremely interesting, not only because of their curious body shape, but also from the behavioral point of view. The female seahorse plays only the briefest role in the parental care and delivery of the next generation. It is a strange reproductive procedure. The female produces the eggs and deposits them in a minute opening in the male’s brood pouch located under his tail. As she swims away, never again to see her offspring, it becomes the male responsibility to fertilize and incubates the eggs as well as to deliver the newborn. The incubation period lasts from eight to ten days only. When the male is ready to give birth, his body begins to move back and forth, tensing at intervals, as he thrusts forward his bulging pouch. Slowly the pouch opens he begins to eject his offspring, usually one at a time. Such “labor pains” continue for several hours after which several dozens to many hundreds of baby seahorses have been born, depending on the species. Having performed this birth function, the male seahorses leave the babies to care for themselves. They at once begin swimming in search of suitable blades of grass around which they can twist their tales and begin to grow.
