Northern Isabela and Fernandina Islands
What a fabulous and gorgeous morning we had today! The naturalists were on deck shortly after dawn, searching the horizon for a splash or a spout: any sign of marine mammals. And did we ever find them - wow! I spotted a splash at least two miles ahead and our first officer Fernando took the ship towards that point on the horizon. Soon we could make out with the naked eye dozens of leaping common dolphins. I could not resist, and made a ship wide announcement, encouraging all the sleepy heads to join us on deck for the show. We had calm seas, blue sunny skies and within a short time we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins.
After breakfast we crossed the equator and celebrated in the bridge. We learned about geology from Gilda and safe kayaking techniques from Alex. Captain Robalino ordered the anchor dropped and the crew lowered Zodiacs and kayaks to accommodate us all. From the Zodiacs we observed sea lions, fur seals, many sea turtles and iguanas and our first flightless cormorants. Some of us caught glimpses of the big mola mola, pelagic sunfish, when their telltale triangular dorsal fins were spotted. Those who went kayaking had both wind and currents to battle, but they enjoyed the workout and were happy with sightings of sea turtles and penguins.
I sent out three pangas with deep water snorkelers and they had a blast! Speedy penguins, feeding on a bait ball of tiny fish, zipped past them, a cormorant dove deep below them and there were at least a dozen swimming and resting sea turtles. The kids (and some of the adults, too) were shivering by the time they returned to the ship, but extremely excited by all they had seen.
In the afternoon we disembarked at Punta Espinoza and here we had another of the archipelago’s wildlife highs! Indeed, as soon as we had landed on the jet black lava shore, we found large marine iguanas in hoards. A “hoard” of iguanas is the accepted name for a group of these reptiles, and it certainly was appropriate for the piles of iguanas we observed today. We photographed cormorants on their nests drying their wings, and some of us had a wonderful encounter with a Galápagos hawk. Back at the ship I lead the guests in jumping from the bridge deck into the cool ocean as the sun, a day-glow orange ball, set behind the impressive shield volcano that is Fernandina.
What a fabulous and gorgeous morning we had today! The naturalists were on deck shortly after dawn, searching the horizon for a splash or a spout: any sign of marine mammals. And did we ever find them - wow! I spotted a splash at least two miles ahead and our first officer Fernando took the ship towards that point on the horizon. Soon we could make out with the naked eye dozens of leaping common dolphins. I could not resist, and made a ship wide announcement, encouraging all the sleepy heads to join us on deck for the show. We had calm seas, blue sunny skies and within a short time we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins.
After breakfast we crossed the equator and celebrated in the bridge. We learned about geology from Gilda and safe kayaking techniques from Alex. Captain Robalino ordered the anchor dropped and the crew lowered Zodiacs and kayaks to accommodate us all. From the Zodiacs we observed sea lions, fur seals, many sea turtles and iguanas and our first flightless cormorants. Some of us caught glimpses of the big mola mola, pelagic sunfish, when their telltale triangular dorsal fins were spotted. Those who went kayaking had both wind and currents to battle, but they enjoyed the workout and were happy with sightings of sea turtles and penguins.
I sent out three pangas with deep water snorkelers and they had a blast! Speedy penguins, feeding on a bait ball of tiny fish, zipped past them, a cormorant dove deep below them and there were at least a dozen swimming and resting sea turtles. The kids (and some of the adults, too) were shivering by the time they returned to the ship, but extremely excited by all they had seen.
In the afternoon we disembarked at Punta Espinoza and here we had another of the archipelago’s wildlife highs! Indeed, as soon as we had landed on the jet black lava shore, we found large marine iguanas in hoards. A “hoard” of iguanas is the accepted name for a group of these reptiles, and it certainly was appropriate for the piles of iguanas we observed today. We photographed cormorants on their nests drying their wings, and some of us had a wonderful encounter with a Galápagos hawk. Back at the ship I lead the guests in jumping from the bridge deck into the cool ocean as the sun, a day-glow orange ball, set behind the impressive shield volcano that is Fernandina.
