Isabela and Fernandina Islands
Today we explored in the western part of the archipelago as the sun rose over the most active volcanoes of Isabela Island. There was turbulence in the water caused by the Cromwell Current, which is an underwater current that causes upwelling. This mixes the waters and facilitates primary production of food for the biggest creatures on earth – whales.
We had an active day, beginning with a wonderful boat ride along the coast of Isabela Island. We came across a Galápagos penguin, a lot of flightless cormorants, and a group of ocean sun fish that were very close to our Zodiacs.
Later in the morning, we did some deep water snorkeling in a feeding place of sea turtles. We had several close encounters with feeding sea turtles that swam near us – it was simply amazing to have this opportunity.
In the afternoon we visited the most pristine island in Galápagos. Fernandina – a jewel in the archipelago’s crown. It has one of the biggest populations of marine iguanas and is the most active island. We walked on very young lava fields and found a lot of tidal pools were there were many sea turtles resting as well as many sea lions. It was very nice to see the marine iguanas swimming, coming back from their foraging area.
There are no doubts that geology was one of the highlights today. There were times when we were surrounded by at least five different volcanoes and a lot of parasitic cones. The different types of volcanic materials one finds at these sites offers an amazing scenic view with a lot of colors and shapes, where there is a great diversity of species – species that live in one of the most remote places of the world – The Enchanted Islands.
