Floreana and Isabela Islands
What a wonderful day we had today. We started early in the morning, visiting Floreana island. We saw many green sea turtles, some swimming, even some mating. But what was very spectacular, we saw a Galápagos Penguin swimming very fast after a school of small type of fish called black stripped Salemas. It was fascinating to observe how when the penguin approached the fish, they split into two groups and the penguin just past through. The penguin did not take off and was very persistent on trying to get its breakfast.
We left the penguin behind and went back to the ship for breakfast. After having a break, we were ready for snorkeling at Champion Island, which appears to be a small crater. We snorkeled in deep waters, temperature was 74F and the amount of fish was incredible. A bunch of tropical and subtropical fishes were feeding on plankton; they performed a great display around us; it was unbelievable. Among them, we saw king angel fish, salemas, white-tip reef sharks and marbled sting rays. And of course, there were lots of young Galápagos sea lions that joined us in the water. Everybody loved the aquatic ballet performed by this incredible sea creature, inviting us in the dance.
In the afternoon when we were sailing from Floreana to Isabela, one of our guests did spot a Bryde’s whale. It was spectacular,r and Celso, one of our naturalists, got a good shot of this incredible marine mammal before it went down into the depths.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, we visited the Isabela Tortoise breeding center and observed giant tortoises from Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. The tortoises of the last mentioned volcano were taken by helicopter to rescue them from the eruption in that area in October 1998. Since that time they have produced 300 baby tortoises.
The day was fulfilled with the presence of the greater flamingoes with their spectacular pink color, which we observed in the brackish water lagoon of Puerto Villamil. Gabriel Salazar, Naturalist; Photo: Celso Montalvo, Naturalist
What a wonderful day we had today. We started early in the morning, visiting Floreana island. We saw many green sea turtles, some swimming, even some mating. But what was very spectacular, we saw a Galápagos Penguin swimming very fast after a school of small type of fish called black stripped Salemas. It was fascinating to observe how when the penguin approached the fish, they split into two groups and the penguin just past through. The penguin did not take off and was very persistent on trying to get its breakfast.
We left the penguin behind and went back to the ship for breakfast. After having a break, we were ready for snorkeling at Champion Island, which appears to be a small crater. We snorkeled in deep waters, temperature was 74F and the amount of fish was incredible. A bunch of tropical and subtropical fishes were feeding on plankton; they performed a great display around us; it was unbelievable. Among them, we saw king angel fish, salemas, white-tip reef sharks and marbled sting rays. And of course, there were lots of young Galápagos sea lions that joined us in the water. Everybody loved the aquatic ballet performed by this incredible sea creature, inviting us in the dance.
In the afternoon when we were sailing from Floreana to Isabela, one of our guests did spot a Bryde’s whale. It was spectacular,r and Celso, one of our naturalists, got a good shot of this incredible marine mammal before it went down into the depths.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, we visited the Isabela Tortoise breeding center and observed giant tortoises from Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. The tortoises of the last mentioned volcano were taken by helicopter to rescue them from the eruption in that area in October 1998. Since that time they have produced 300 baby tortoises.
The day was fulfilled with the presence of the greater flamingoes with their spectacular pink color, which we observed in the brackish water lagoon of Puerto Villamil. Gabriel Salazar, Naturalist; Photo: Celso Montalvo, Naturalist
