An early wake up call brought us to admire the sunrise and the beautiful morning colors above the silhouette of the island of Floreana. We were anchored in Post Office Bay. After a visit to the traditional mail box and a Zodiac ride, we had a well deserved breakfast on the Teak Deck and at the moment I was announcing we would make a exceptional circumnavigation of the Island of Enderby, a Bryde's whale was spotted at the stern. The Captain turned the ship around and we saw several of the spouts until it dove down. That didn't leave us time anymore to go to Enderby at that point so off we went to Champion. We had incredible snorkeling there: the water was transparent, warm (77ºF) and the fish were abundant. But most fun was the company of many playful sea lions who this week were everywhere. It is so intriguing to follow their ballet underwater and sometimes scary also when they swim very fast towards you and then turn off at the last moment. It still makes me scream, even after all these years of being with them in the water.
After lunch the Captain did maneuver the ship around the Island of Enderby as promised earlier. Enderby is an eroded tuff cone, named after a famous whalehunter in the 19th Century, just as Champion is named after a whaler too. The island looks very different from all sides. From far it seems to be pointed volcano. Up close, from one side it still looks like a full-bodied volcano (although not pointed anymore - upper left insert) but on the other side it is very hollow. The island offers many nesting sites to frigatebirds - some could be seen with inflated red poaches - Nazca boobies, swallow tailed gulls and many other sea birds. We also saw two manta rays gracefully swimming by the ship.
After a good siesta we went to visit Punta Cormorant on Floreana. We observed some flamingoes, and many sea turtles in the shallow water by the white, powdery beach. I managed to get one coming a bit too early on land, females only come at night on land to lay the 80-100 eggs in the soft sand. This one though was a bit too hasty! Seeing us she realized and turned around for a later return. We wish her many eggs and above all survival of the babies!
