Snorkeling in the Galapagos is as great an experience as scuba diving. One finds excellent visibility during much of the year, and from the very surface one can often view 40 feet of underwater life.
Kelvin Hughes is a Lindblad videographer. He is on board the Polaris teaching the naturalists how to use a new underwater video camera; an amazing interpretative tool that we have just begun to use on the ship.
During our evening recap Kelvin shared some footage that he had taken at Champion Islet and Genovesa. It was surprising to see how many different species he was able to record in under an hour of snorkeling. The best footage of all was a slow motion clip of a blue footed booby. Kelvin captured the bird as it plummeted from the air, cut into the water leaving a trial of bubbles in his wake, and then went up to the surface again. Boobies are amazing divers, dancers and expert gliders. It is unfair that the sailors of old called them "clowns."
Kelvin also filmed a sea turtle smoothly swimming and many species of fish: grunts, creole fish, flag cabrillas, wrasses and parrotfish.
Following the video our guests were even more excited than usual to get back into the water. In Galapagos we snorkel almost every day, and sometimes twice a day, and many of our guests learn to snorkel with the patient help of our naturalists. Now we all look very professional, wearing the bright new wet suits the Polaris has available for lending. Perhaps the sea lions will soon learn that those wearing black, purple and blue wet suits are Polaris guests and they will come even more eagerly to join us in play.
