Genovesa
The early kayakers who bravely set out at 0630 once again got wet! But as they paddled along at the base of the cliffs of Genovesa Island, they saw many seabirds, sea lions, and even a few fur seals hiding in a cave. We had a leisurely breakfast and waited out the rain. By 0900 the sun was shining, the sky had cleared, and we motored to shore to disembark on a lovely little coral sand beach. Frigate birds soared overhead, and later on we found the first male frigates with inflated pouches beginning their courtship displays. In a month this island will look like a Christmas tree with all the bright red frigate pouches ballooning!
The lovely swallow-tailed gulls have been breeding for a few months already and many of them had solitary, fluffy grey and white chicks. The strikingly marked adults were resting by their chicks or on ledges in the shade; they are nocturnal feeders and so daytime is their time for napping. Several of the red-footed boobies also had single tiny chicks in sloppy twig nests in the mangrove shrubs. These boobies are the only ones of our three species of Sulidae that can perch on branches with their prehensile webbed feet. They are found on the peripheral islands—like Genovesa—and they feed far out to sea on flying fish and other open ocean fish species.
There were many yellow-crowned night herons and Galápagos mockingbirds around this morning. Nazca boobies were resting among the saltbushes; they are ground nesters but at least in this area were not actively nesting. Back on the beach some of us went swimming and snorkeling, others returned to the ship to relax and two groups of guests joined Fernando and Giancarlo for a final snorkeling outing from the Zodiacs. The snorkelers had a great time! Besides myriad colorful fish they saw both hammerhead and white-tipped reef sharks.
In the afternoon, following a fabulous lunch, a short siesta and an interesting and very educational talk by Jim Costa about the uniqueness of islands, we had the option of a walk at Prince Phillips Steps or a Zodiac ride. Everyone who went out again admired the red-billed tropicbirds that flew with streaming tails above us as we motored across the bay and along the cliffs. There were several fur seals sheltered from the hot afternoon sun in shallow caves, and once up the rough steps we found the Nazca boobies had many eggs and several tiny chicks! We observed all four of the Darwin finches that are found on Genovesa: the sharp beaked, the large ground, large cactus, and warbler finches. And most exciting of all, we found three owls, one of which was very close and feeding on a storm petrel! The sun set in an orange and pink glow of billowy clouds and rain threatened as we puttered towards the ship. Our hearts were full, our minds amazed with all that we have seen and learned and experienced this week in Las Islas Encantadas of Galápagos.
