Isabela and Fernandina Islands
We have reached the western realm of this Archipelago. Our day began circumnavigating Roca Redonda the remaining part of a volcano. There we saw flocks of sea birds such as Galápagos shearwaters, storm petrels, and noddy terns all over the place. And then a super pod of common dolphins was spotted. We had a great time watching them, these are very acrobatic cetaceans, in fact they were jumping very high right in front of the ship; it was a very special moment. We left the dolphins behind to continue our navigation toward Punta Vicente Roca, were we had a fantastic Zodiac ride. The whole place was teeming with life. There were marine turtles here and there; penguins both in the water and on land, but the highlight for many of us were the Ocean sun fish, odd looking creatures that inhabit this particular region.
In the afternoon our Captain repositioned the ship to Fernandina Island were we spent the rest of the afternoon. This is a great location, absolutely pristine, where you can go back a few hundred thousand years pretty much like when the very first island appeared: just lava flows all over, a very harsh environment perfect for pioneer species such as mangroves and lava cactus. Now a days you find sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards and some very special seabirds like penguins and flightless cormorants.
We have reached the western realm of this Archipelago. Our day began circumnavigating Roca Redonda the remaining part of a volcano. There we saw flocks of sea birds such as Galápagos shearwaters, storm petrels, and noddy terns all over the place. And then a super pod of common dolphins was spotted. We had a great time watching them, these are very acrobatic cetaceans, in fact they were jumping very high right in front of the ship; it was a very special moment. We left the dolphins behind to continue our navigation toward Punta Vicente Roca, were we had a fantastic Zodiac ride. The whole place was teeming with life. There were marine turtles here and there; penguins both in the water and on land, but the highlight for many of us were the Ocean sun fish, odd looking creatures that inhabit this particular region.
In the afternoon our Captain repositioned the ship to Fernandina Island were we spent the rest of the afternoon. This is a great location, absolutely pristine, where you can go back a few hundred thousand years pretty much like when the very first island appeared: just lava flows all over, a very harsh environment perfect for pioneer species such as mangroves and lava cactus. Now a days you find sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards and some very special seabirds like penguins and flightless cormorants.
