Rays!! Champion Island was a beautiful place to snorkel today, after our visit to the Post Office Barrel on Floreana Island and a great "panga" ride along the coast of the "Loberia" (or sea lion islets).
Champion is one of Floreana's satellite islets, fascinating areas where one can observe the pristine conditions that are no longer found on the main island, which was inhabited early on. Rare species such as the Floreana mockingbird, extinct on the big island, are still found in good numbers on the satellites. These small islets are of several different formations, and Champion is an uplifted island, which means that it was once part of the seabed. The underwater topography is spectacular due to this, as the island is surrounded by steep cliffs, covered in black coral, and home to hundreds of fish, invertebrates and more.
For most of the naturalists, this is truly the week's snorkeling highlight, as large sea lion colonies inhabit the islet, and gangs of youngsters love to come and check up on us, strange newcomers. The water was very clear today, so great conditions for swimming, snorkeling, and also taking glass bottom boat trips, during which activities we saw thousands of different fish species: surgeonfish, angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda, white-tipped reef sharks, and millions of sardines. Just below us, semi-camouflaged by sand, we also had a great opportunity to see one of the ray species that inhabit the islands, the diamond sting ray. This creature can be slightly dangerous if one happens to be wading in the shallows, as it is bottom-dwelling and burrows down to become invisible. They have a nasty spine at the base of the tail which they use only as a defensive weapon, they are not aggressive at all. In this picture we have a medium-sized diamond sting ray.
