Isabela & Fernandina Islands
This morning we had a beautiful wake up call with Paula’s voice, this was at 6:15, we were around Roca Redonda, a nesting place for different species of sea birds. We were also hoping to find marine mammals, and we were very lucky indeed, because we found one sperm whale gently logging at the water’s surface. After taking a few breaths, we were treated to a spectacular look of the whale’s fluke as it dove down.
Crossing the Equator, we fulfilled a ritual of turning Pollywogs into Shellbacks, then we continued to our anchorage site at Punta Vicente Roca on the Northern end of Isabela Island. We were impressed to see many sea turtles and Galápagos penguins in the water. Along the shoreline, we came upon fifty or so blue-footed boobies in the middle of a feeding frenzy. The Spanish name for these birds means “lancer” and they lived up to that name as they came soaring straight down at top speeds, folding their wings against their slender bodies and gliding into the water just feet away from our Zodiacs. Snorkeling side by side with Pacific Green Sea Turtles later that morning held just as much wonder.
Fernandina Island, the youngest island in the archipelago, was our afternoon destination. Piles upon piles of black Marine Iguanas greeted us at our landing site. The only sea-going lizards in the world exist solely in the Galápagos. Flightless cormorants were another emblematic and endemic sighting of the afternoon. A breathtaking sunset was the perfect ending to this amazing day.
This morning we had a beautiful wake up call with Paula’s voice, this was at 6:15, we were around Roca Redonda, a nesting place for different species of sea birds. We were also hoping to find marine mammals, and we were very lucky indeed, because we found one sperm whale gently logging at the water’s surface. After taking a few breaths, we were treated to a spectacular look of the whale’s fluke as it dove down.
Crossing the Equator, we fulfilled a ritual of turning Pollywogs into Shellbacks, then we continued to our anchorage site at Punta Vicente Roca on the Northern end of Isabela Island. We were impressed to see many sea turtles and Galápagos penguins in the water. Along the shoreline, we came upon fifty or so blue-footed boobies in the middle of a feeding frenzy. The Spanish name for these birds means “lancer” and they lived up to that name as they came soaring straight down at top speeds, folding their wings against their slender bodies and gliding into the water just feet away from our Zodiacs. Snorkeling side by side with Pacific Green Sea Turtles later that morning held just as much wonder.
Fernandina Island, the youngest island in the archipelago, was our afternoon destination. Piles upon piles of black Marine Iguanas greeted us at our landing site. The only sea-going lizards in the world exist solely in the Galápagos. Flightless cormorants were another emblematic and endemic sighting of the afternoon. A breathtaking sunset was the perfect ending to this amazing day.
