Floreana Island
What a spectacular day! During our visit in the afternoon we had the opportunity to see in the lagoon many colorful flamingos, among other lagoon and shore birds. This by itself was a highlight, but the most interesting sighting happened later, on a small and beautiful white sand beach. This paradisaical place is very fragile and is under special protection. The reason: Pacific green turtles Chelonia mydas nest there. This turtle species is the only one that nests on the Galapagos Islands. We were walking along the beach and suddenly we saw something moving on a small sand dune. It was a baby turtle walking on the sand trying to find its way to the water. All our guests were extremely excited to be able to observe this cute hatchling making such a big effort to move ahead. Our guests were not the only ones watching the baby turtle. Frigate birds were roaming around; they started to attack immediately. Every time one of the frigates was getting closer to the little turtle, everybody started shouting and booing. Eventually one of the frigates with amazing acrobatic movements finally captured and ate it. It was truly remarkable to witness the whole event. We could not do anything, simply because we were watching a sad, but marvelous example of events that happen routinely in nature. A few minutes later we saw more hatchlings coming out of the nest; the frigates also ate them right away. We think that the frigates may have eaten at least 20 or more of them, one after the other. Finally there was a moment when no more turtles came out of the nest and the frigates left. We left the place as well, some were sad; some fascinated by the fact that we were so lucky to observe such an extremely unusual and exciting experience.
The neonate turtles under normal conditions emerge from their nests at night. Sometimes by mistake they emerge during the daytime. Most, if not all, are eaten by their natural predators. Once on board we continued talking about this incredible sight, a little sad, but truly spectacular at the same time.
What a spectacular day! During our visit in the afternoon we had the opportunity to see in the lagoon many colorful flamingos, among other lagoon and shore birds. This by itself was a highlight, but the most interesting sighting happened later, on a small and beautiful white sand beach. This paradisaical place is very fragile and is under special protection. The reason: Pacific green turtles Chelonia mydas nest there. This turtle species is the only one that nests on the Galapagos Islands. We were walking along the beach and suddenly we saw something moving on a small sand dune. It was a baby turtle walking on the sand trying to find its way to the water. All our guests were extremely excited to be able to observe this cute hatchling making such a big effort to move ahead. Our guests were not the only ones watching the baby turtle. Frigate birds were roaming around; they started to attack immediately. Every time one of the frigates was getting closer to the little turtle, everybody started shouting and booing. Eventually one of the frigates with amazing acrobatic movements finally captured and ate it. It was truly remarkable to witness the whole event. We could not do anything, simply because we were watching a sad, but marvelous example of events that happen routinely in nature. A few minutes later we saw more hatchlings coming out of the nest; the frigates also ate them right away. We think that the frigates may have eaten at least 20 or more of them, one after the other. Finally there was a moment when no more turtles came out of the nest and the frigates left. We left the place as well, some were sad; some fascinated by the fact that we were so lucky to observe such an extremely unusual and exciting experience.
The neonate turtles under normal conditions emerge from their nests at night. Sometimes by mistake they emerge during the daytime. Most, if not all, are eaten by their natural predators. Once on board we continued talking about this incredible sight, a little sad, but truly spectacular at the same time.
