North Seymour and Rabida Islands
We started the first full day of our expedition in Galápagos in the central realm of the islands. The first island we landed on was North Seymour; this is the home for several species of seabirds such as blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and frigatebirds.
This was the best location to see frigates with their brightly color gular sacs; this morning we saw a few males trying to get the attention of the females flying above them and at least one was successful. Far in the distance we saw them fighting over a small fish that one caught; at least eight frigates showed up and finally one of them ate the fish very quickly before the others could take it away.
We also encountered many Galápagos land iguanas which were very active; some were looking for food, others were climbing on bushes or walking around.
After we left North Seymour we headed towards Rabida Island, where we went snorkeling along its cliffs in deep waters. There we saw sharks, Galápagos sea lions, and colorful marine invertebrates such as sponges, green sea urchins, and several species of sea stars. Some of our guests opted to take a ride in our glass-bottom boat and saw just about the same variety of marine species.
Later on we went ashore and enjoyed a relaxing walk where we observed some Darwin finches, Galápagos doves and a very curious Galápagos flycatcher that hopped around the vegetation and came within just a couple of inches of us.
It was a very rewarding day with great sightings and interactions with the Galápagos world.
