Isabela and Fernandina
This morning we watched the dawn break on Roca Redonda—a spectacular sheer-walled chunk of rock that juts a thousand feet up out of the water. Home to hundreds of seabirds, Roca Redonda is the flattened summit of a hidden submerged volcano that extends over twelve miles under the surface. The whitewashed rock seemed to shimmer to life as bastions of boobies and swallowtail gulls took to the skies on their morning rounds.
After circling the Roca several times, we headed south, straight into a pod of common dolphins. While the dolphins performed their hydrobatics, some large manta rays put in an appearance along with what appeared to be a Bryde whale. With so much life abounding we barely knew where to turn our binoculars. And as Isabela Island and Fernandina appeared ahead, we crossed over the great girdle of Earth—the Equator--where King Neptune was ready and waiting to baptize a new generation of saddlebacks.
We are in the youngest region of the Galápagos, and the landscape here is wild and raw. But underwater, rich upwelling from the Cromwell current supports lush green algae fields where large populations of marine iguanas graze. Today however, the star attraction was the world’s heaviest bony fish--the Mola mola, or giant ocean sunfish. At least six of these amazing behemoths greeted us by sticking their long dorsal fins out of the water and beckoning us over. Some of us even had the chance to swim with them! Afterwards we spent time snorkeling with penguins and exploring Punta Espinoza with its marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and even a Galápagos snake. It just doesn't get any better than this!
This morning we watched the dawn break on Roca Redonda—a spectacular sheer-walled chunk of rock that juts a thousand feet up out of the water. Home to hundreds of seabirds, Roca Redonda is the flattened summit of a hidden submerged volcano that extends over twelve miles under the surface. The whitewashed rock seemed to shimmer to life as bastions of boobies and swallowtail gulls took to the skies on their morning rounds.
After circling the Roca several times, we headed south, straight into a pod of common dolphins. While the dolphins performed their hydrobatics, some large manta rays put in an appearance along with what appeared to be a Bryde whale. With so much life abounding we barely knew where to turn our binoculars. And as Isabela Island and Fernandina appeared ahead, we crossed over the great girdle of Earth—the Equator--where King Neptune was ready and waiting to baptize a new generation of saddlebacks.
We are in the youngest region of the Galápagos, and the landscape here is wild and raw. But underwater, rich upwelling from the Cromwell current supports lush green algae fields where large populations of marine iguanas graze. Today however, the star attraction was the world’s heaviest bony fish--the Mola mola, or giant ocean sunfish. At least six of these amazing behemoths greeted us by sticking their long dorsal fins out of the water and beckoning us over. Some of us even had the chance to swim with them! Afterwards we spent time snorkeling with penguins and exploring Punta Espinoza with its marine iguanas, flightless cormorants and even a Galápagos snake. It just doesn't get any better than this!
