Isabela and Fernandina Islands
The morning outing around Roca Redonda, a remote volcanic rock not far from Isabela (the sea horse shape island), gave us a glimpse of hundreds of sea birds that have made these cliffs their home. After circumnavigating it, we headed down to Isabela to cross the equator line; then we approached very gently a small group of false killer whales which first were thought to be bottlenose dolphins, but they didn’t stay for too long.
We continued our navigation into the inner side of Ecuador volcano, having a visit from King Neptune and a group of pirates. They baptized some of our guests with a new name: Galápagos shellbacks.
We sat on the panga and went to explore the shore of the northern part of Isabela, searching for penguins and flightless cormorants; suddenly we spotted several big fins sticking out from the water and moving from side to side in very slow motion; these creatures appeared to be Ocean sun fish!
After lunch in the afternoon we visited Fernandina Island where no species has been introduced by humans, and we got to see flightless cormorants fishing and taking care on their chicks. Galápagos penguins, sea lions and hawks appeared not to be impressed by our presence. A small lava heron (a subspecies of the striated heron) ran between our feet hunting crabs, catching a couple of sally light foot crabs for dinner. Every body was so excited to witness the skill of this little bird.
We went back to the ship charmed by the beauty of this island and expecting more to come for tomorrow.
The morning outing around Roca Redonda, a remote volcanic rock not far from Isabela (the sea horse shape island), gave us a glimpse of hundreds of sea birds that have made these cliffs their home. After circumnavigating it, we headed down to Isabela to cross the equator line; then we approached very gently a small group of false killer whales which first were thought to be bottlenose dolphins, but they didn’t stay for too long.
We continued our navigation into the inner side of Ecuador volcano, having a visit from King Neptune and a group of pirates. They baptized some of our guests with a new name: Galápagos shellbacks.
We sat on the panga and went to explore the shore of the northern part of Isabela, searching for penguins and flightless cormorants; suddenly we spotted several big fins sticking out from the water and moving from side to side in very slow motion; these creatures appeared to be Ocean sun fish!
After lunch in the afternoon we visited Fernandina Island where no species has been introduced by humans, and we got to see flightless cormorants fishing and taking care on their chicks. Galápagos penguins, sea lions and hawks appeared not to be impressed by our presence. A small lava heron (a subspecies of the striated heron) ran between our feet hunting crabs, catching a couple of sally light foot crabs for dinner. Every body was so excited to witness the skill of this little bird.
We went back to the ship charmed by the beauty of this island and expecting more to come for tomorrow.
