Northern Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Wow! What a day we had today, here in the enchanted islands of Galápagos! It all started very early; even before my optional early wake-up call was scheduled for 0615. Chief Officer Fernando called my room before 0600 and said “llegaron las ballenas” – the whales have arrived! So, rather than an optional announcement, I quietly informed everyone that we it was a beautiful morning and that indeed we had already spotted two Bryde’s whales. Bryde’s, also known as tropical whales, are a medium sized baleen whale and this morning we had excellent sightings of at least four individuals. Galápagos shearwaters, noddy terns, two species of storm petrels and dark-rumped petrels fluttered above the feeding whales, sharing in the ocean’s bounty and making it easier for us to follow them.
We crossed the equator line soon after breakfast and signed up for certificates stating that we are now officially “shellbacks.” Captain Carlos anchored the NG Islander below the spectacular cliffs of Volcan Ecuador and the crew lowered our fleet of Zodiacs for a cruise along the shoreline. From the Zodiacs we glimpsed another whale spout briefly, but we spent most of our time poking along the coast admiring the huge territorial marine iguanas, the swirling and swimming fur seals, tiny penguins, flightless cormorants and many, many sea turtles.
We gather census data on sea turtles each week for the Charles Darwin Research Station and today’s count along the Zodiac transect line was an all time high: 76 sea turtles! They were everywhere! Later, we donned our wetsuits and slid into the chilly ocean to snorkel. We were surrounded by turtles, some feeding on marine algae, some floating with the surf and several sleeping on the sandy ocean bottom. I saw a transect line and identified and counted males by their long tails, adult females by their large, deep body size and the smaller juveniles. I recorded 65 sea turtles with us as we snorkeled – amazing! We also saw a gorgeous manta ray, cormorants, a diving iguana and a penguin.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the lava fields of the world’s second most active volcano – Fernandina. We saw piles of marine iguanas and the huge males nodded their heads in territorial display. An adult hawk, a lovely, chocolate brown in color, sat close on the lava flow and studied us, fearlessly. We watched a pair of amorous cormorants beginning to nest build. A curious and pesky teenage sea lion sniffed our feet and gave a whisker-tickly peck to someone’s cheek. As the sun set behind the impressive shield volcano of Fernandina, we returned to the ship with quiet smiles of joy and contentment on all our faces.
Wow! What a day we had today, here in the enchanted islands of Galápagos! It all started very early; even before my optional early wake-up call was scheduled for 0615. Chief Officer Fernando called my room before 0600 and said “llegaron las ballenas” – the whales have arrived! So, rather than an optional announcement, I quietly informed everyone that we it was a beautiful morning and that indeed we had already spotted two Bryde’s whales. Bryde’s, also known as tropical whales, are a medium sized baleen whale and this morning we had excellent sightings of at least four individuals. Galápagos shearwaters, noddy terns, two species of storm petrels and dark-rumped petrels fluttered above the feeding whales, sharing in the ocean’s bounty and making it easier for us to follow them.
We crossed the equator line soon after breakfast and signed up for certificates stating that we are now officially “shellbacks.” Captain Carlos anchored the NG Islander below the spectacular cliffs of Volcan Ecuador and the crew lowered our fleet of Zodiacs for a cruise along the shoreline. From the Zodiacs we glimpsed another whale spout briefly, but we spent most of our time poking along the coast admiring the huge territorial marine iguanas, the swirling and swimming fur seals, tiny penguins, flightless cormorants and many, many sea turtles.
We gather census data on sea turtles each week for the Charles Darwin Research Station and today’s count along the Zodiac transect line was an all time high: 76 sea turtles! They were everywhere! Later, we donned our wetsuits and slid into the chilly ocean to snorkel. We were surrounded by turtles, some feeding on marine algae, some floating with the surf and several sleeping on the sandy ocean bottom. I saw a transect line and identified and counted males by their long tails, adult females by their large, deep body size and the smaller juveniles. I recorded 65 sea turtles with us as we snorkeled – amazing! We also saw a gorgeous manta ray, cormorants, a diving iguana and a penguin.
In the afternoon we disembarked on the lava fields of the world’s second most active volcano – Fernandina. We saw piles of marine iguanas and the huge males nodded their heads in territorial display. An adult hawk, a lovely, chocolate brown in color, sat close on the lava flow and studied us, fearlessly. We watched a pair of amorous cormorants beginning to nest build. A curious and pesky teenage sea lion sniffed our feet and gave a whisker-tickly peck to someone’s cheek. As the sun set behind the impressive shield volcano of Fernandina, we returned to the ship with quiet smiles of joy and contentment on all our faces.
