Today we visited the islands on the western side of the archipelago, Isabela and Fernandina. We started early in the morning circumnavigating Roca Redonda with the Polaris. This beautiful geological formation in the middle of the ocean is the top of a submerged volcano. Later in the morning we went to Isabela Island where we had a closer look at Ecuador volcano. Here we had a wonderful Zodiac ride along the coast of Punta Vicente Roca. We saw from the Zodiacs an extraordinary profusion of life, Galapagos penguins in the water, green pacific turtles, blue footed and nazca boobies, pelicans, fur sea lions, noddy terns and marine iguanas. The weather was perfect - clear sky, nice breeze and the sun shining, these were optimal conditions for an excellent Zodiac ride. In the afternoon we visited Fernandina Island, the youngest island of the archipelago.
After lunch some of our guests enjoyed snorkeling close to the coastline of Fernandina Island in the vicinity of Punta Espinosa. Even though waters are normally cooler in this region, today the water had a nice temperature, 73º F. Later in the afternoon we landed on Fernandina. During the walk we observed not only the fantastic volcanic setting and lava flows, but also we were able to truly enjoy the incredible wildlife this island offers to us - sea lions, flightless cormorants, herons, hundreds of Sally lightfoot crabs, lava lizards, etc. This particular place has a remarkable number of marine iguanas. Many of them, like the ones you can see in today's picture, were males facing the sun and raising the front part of their bodies as if worshipping the sun. This special posture reduces the body area exposed to the heat produced by the sun and at the same time allows air to circulate under the body. This special postural behavior is a fascinating mechanism that produces an effect of cooling off their bodies, taking away the heat. This is the way these unique marine reptiles control their body temperature outside the water.
