Ocean beauties
Majestic and impressive, the Ecuadorian volcano on Isabela Island materialized out of the clear sky in the early morning. Rising out of the ocean, like a half moon, this volcano lost it’s other half to the deep waters about 100,000 years ago. As soon as we arrived to Punta Vicente Roca, we went to explore the unique wildlife that inhabits the waters surrounding the volcano. Green Pacific Marine turtles started to appear everywhere you looked; Galapagos penguins posed on the volcanic rocks in their tuxedos, a flightless cormorant showed us its diving skills catching some fish, and sea lions engaged in a synchronized swimming completion with us as their only judges. Suddenly it seemed like a little part of the ocean floor was moving—a horn shark moved and surprised us all with its remarkable camouflage.
Navigating towards Fernandina Island, a pod of more than 200 common dolphins gave a great performance close to the Islander—acrobats from a circus would look dull beside them.
Fernandina, our pristine princess, could not stay behind. As soon as we arrived, hundreds of marine iguanas blocked our way, sun bathing, enjoying life; they could not care at all that we joined them. After some nimble navigation by our Captain, we continued our journey toward flightless cormorant territory. There, love was in the air. Two females were gracefully trying to seduce a male. He chose one and showed his “heart shaped” chest while making romantic noises. He followed her to the water and both performed an elegant snake dance with their necks.
We could have stayed the whole day watching the ocean beauties as they played and danced, but we had to continue on our way. Today’s beauties illustrated to us that they live in harmony and acceptance. Could we do the same with ourselves?
