Isabela & Fernandina Island
“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago, never mind how long precisely, having little or no money in my purse or nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.”
- Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, 1851
This is how the novel starts, and it shows the conflict between the captain of a whaling ship and a big male Sperm whale. The book is full of adventure and turns into an allegory of incomprehensible evilness represented by the whale, a “monster” of the great depths that attacks and destroys everything in his way, and Captain Ahab.
Today we have been lucky to see the “monster” described in the Moby Dick story, learning for ourselves that they are not any representation of evilness. They are simply creatures that need to be respected and given the place they deserve on our planet.
Like the author of the opening line in the story, we decided to sail about a little as well. However, we are seeing the world and the oceans in a much different way than whalers saw them many years ago. We’re still enjoying, from the very first minute of light till the end of day, every single landscape, bird, plant, and animal that we encounter along our way.
Roca Redonda is teeming with life, described as a beehive by our guests. We watch birds come and go in a frenetic flight, while bottlenose dolphins ride the bow waves. As we sailed to Punta Vicente Roca, we spot a pod of sperm whales, perhaps 12 of them. A big male, females and their calves, which take our breath every time they surfaced in front of the bow.
After our panga ride and snorkeling opportunity with many sea turtles, we continue our route towards Fernandina Island, and yet more cetaceans, this time common dolphins, leaping and breaching playfully next to the National Geographic Polaris. A male orca (killer whale) waits for us and we finish our navigation in the presence of a Bryde´s Whale before Punta Espinoza.
Once on land, we are thrilled by the presence of hundreds of marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Flightless cormorants, sea lions, and sea turtles which are very busily involved in their own duties, paying little to no attention to our presence.
