South Plaza Island
This morning’s hike on South Plaza Island was fantastic! An early hard rainstorm had washed and freshened the air, and the island was alive with busy creatures. As we disembarked on a sturdy cement dock we were delighted by the antics of the ever present and endlessly appealing sea lions. There were literal swarms of bouncing, splashing pups; individuals who were several months old, healthy and spunky and full of curiosity and playfulness. Although this is now our third day of watching sea lions, it seems that each one is just a bit cuter and we are still taking photo after photo of these most captivating and charismatic marine mammals.
Just behind the dock we discovered our first of many land iguanas. On our loop-hike around the island we found them in many poses and involved in a variety of activities. They interacted, fighting and scrambling for a cactus fruit, or rested peacefully under the cactus trees apparently waiting for more flowers or fruits to fall, they strolled among the budding portulaca flowers, and one iguana surprised even the naturalists by feeding on a sea lion carcass! Seabirds soared along the steep cliff as we picked our way carefully along the cliff’s edge—not too close! The graceful swallow-tailed gulls are my very favorite Galápagos endemic seabird. Their plumage is as if designed by an artist, in clean shades of white, gray, and black which contrast with red eye-rings and color-coordinated red feet! They are the world’s only nocturnal gull and we enjoyed watching them soar, sail, and float in to land in the updrafts along the cliff.
Cactus finch probed in the bright yellow Opuntia flowers, and a female fed three hungry hatchlings whose gapping mouths were going to be hard to ever satisfy. We admired the dense reddish carpet of Sesuvium and hiked on lava boulders that had been shined to a marble finish by countless sea lion bandies dragged across them.
After the walk we took a refreshing dip in the ocean and then attended an excellent presentation given by Jim Costa, of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, on “Alfred Russel Wallce: the Other Darwin.” A siesta was in order following lunch and then we braved a wet, gray afternoon to kayak or snorkel.
The kayakers enjoyed paddling along the coast of Santa Fe pushed by a wind that slowly increased. By the time they had clambered out of the kayaks and back into the Zodiac the wind was hard, the waves were building and the rain was pouring down. I sent a second Zodiac to help them and they bounced across the waves and were soon safe on board.
The snorkelers saw sea lions, rays, colorful fish, and sea turtles and the rain did not bother them as they were already wet! I reluctantly cancelled our afternoon shore walks because the rain, wind, and waves all got much worse. But we are snug and dry and well fed here on National Geographic Islander, and soon heading off to bed. We’ll see what tomorrow brings…
