Isabela & Fernandina Island
Our day around the western side of the archipelago started early in the morning. Searching for marine life, a stretching session or chatting were activities that we did before breakfast. We saw several marine bird species like Galápagos shearwaters and the seldom seen Dark rumped petrel. The latter, is in fact is one of the few seabirds that nest in the highlands. This petrel species is highly endangered due the presence of introduced animals in the islands they nest. There are eradication and control programs to protect this rare species from their main enemies, rats and feral pigs. We saw at the distance a couple of dolphins and a whale. The whale sighting was very short; we believe it was a Bryde’s whale because of its behavior. After breakfast and with the company of a beautiful blue sky we went for a Zodiac ride along de high cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. We were highly successful for we spotted several animal species that included Galápagos fur sea lions, marine turtles, the giant sunfish (Mola mola), Galápagos penguins and many sea birds species. Snorkeling was next; we saw many colorful fish and we had the treat to swim with many marine turtles.
In the afternoon we visited Fernandina Island. This island is considered to be not only the youngest island in the archipelago but is one of the most pristine islands in the world as well. In Fernandina we saw some of the largest colonies of marine iguanas in the entire archipelago. In fact we saw big piles of them! These reptiles usually gathered all together just to warm up in order to bear the cooler night temperatures. This behavior is not a social one; reptiles are not social animals at all. The more we walked the more animals we saw, especially some colonies of flightless cormorants. This unusual bird species is the only species of cormorant that has lost the ability to fly. The lack of land predators and the abundance of food resources in the nearby waters allowed these birds to become flightless for they did not spend precious energy flying if there was no need to do so. At the end of the visit we had an incredible sighting! We spotted a young sea turtle that was resting out of the water on a sandy beach. Suddenly, a very young sea lion pup came to the scene and started to play with the turtle. The sea lion even mounted the turtle, asking for a free ride on top of the wary turtle. I have never seen such an amusing thing like that or, either have I heard about it. While returning back on board, everyone in the group started talking about this experience.
Our day around the western side of the archipelago started early in the morning. Searching for marine life, a stretching session or chatting were activities that we did before breakfast. We saw several marine bird species like Galápagos shearwaters and the seldom seen Dark rumped petrel. The latter, is in fact is one of the few seabirds that nest in the highlands. This petrel species is highly endangered due the presence of introduced animals in the islands they nest. There are eradication and control programs to protect this rare species from their main enemies, rats and feral pigs. We saw at the distance a couple of dolphins and a whale. The whale sighting was very short; we believe it was a Bryde’s whale because of its behavior. After breakfast and with the company of a beautiful blue sky we went for a Zodiac ride along de high cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. We were highly successful for we spotted several animal species that included Galápagos fur sea lions, marine turtles, the giant sunfish (Mola mola), Galápagos penguins and many sea birds species. Snorkeling was next; we saw many colorful fish and we had the treat to swim with many marine turtles.
In the afternoon we visited Fernandina Island. This island is considered to be not only the youngest island in the archipelago but is one of the most pristine islands in the world as well. In Fernandina we saw some of the largest colonies of marine iguanas in the entire archipelago. In fact we saw big piles of them! These reptiles usually gathered all together just to warm up in order to bear the cooler night temperatures. This behavior is not a social one; reptiles are not social animals at all. The more we walked the more animals we saw, especially some colonies of flightless cormorants. This unusual bird species is the only species of cormorant that has lost the ability to fly. The lack of land predators and the abundance of food resources in the nearby waters allowed these birds to become flightless for they did not spend precious energy flying if there was no need to do so. At the end of the visit we had an incredible sighting! We spotted a young sea turtle that was resting out of the water on a sandy beach. Suddenly, a very young sea lion pup came to the scene and started to play with the turtle. The sea lion even mounted the turtle, asking for a free ride on top of the wary turtle. I have never seen such an amusing thing like that or, either have I heard about it. While returning back on board, everyone in the group started talking about this experience.
