Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Day 8, Isla Seymour Norte
Day 7, Isla Bartolome
In the afternoon, after the boat moved to Sullivan Bay, we had another snorkel, followed by a fascinating walk on top of the lava fields. To top things off, our day ended with a panga cruise to view the penguins, seabirds, sea lions and other creatures around Pinnacle Rock, getting back to the boat just as the sun went down behind the clouds. It seems odd to find penguins at the Equator, rather than their original home in the Antarctic, but apparently Galapagos waters are cold enough to support them. There are said to be 3000 penguins on Galapagos,
Overnight we sailed to to our final destination, North Seymour Island.
Day 6, Isla Rabida, Isla Santiago
The vegetation on Rabida consists mainly of palo santo trees, which look dead at this time of year, but apparently are very green during the rainy season ( January-March ).
A local snorkeling outing was followed by a 2 1/2 hour cruise to James Bay, on Santiago Island ( Santiago is Spanish for "Saint James" ). Our panga dropped us off at Puerto Egas, the site of a former salt mine that was closed forty years ago when the Gaslapagos National Park was created. As it turned out, the grandfather of Reuben, our local guide, used to work there; he is still alive, at the ripe old age of 98.
I saw my first penguin at Puerto Egas. Upon arrival we snorkeled off the beach. This was followed by a very pleasant half hour walk along a path to a site with fur seal grottoes. Several fur seals were resting there. Although commonly referred to as "fur seals", they are, in fact, a type of sea lion, albeit one third the size of a Galapagos sea lion, and they have a fairly thick pelt which provide good insulation. They originate in the sub-Antarctic, and are the smallest species of pinniped in the world. Mike Jackson, our guide, reminded us that the basic difference between a seal and a sea lion is in the flippers. Seals have small flippers, and tend to stay in the water, whereas sea lions have big flippers, which allows them to propel themselves on land. Near the shoreline dolphins were spotted swimming.
That night we cruised to Isla Bartolome, on the eastern side of Santiago.
Day 5, Isla Santa Cruz
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 4, Isla Floreana
Day 3, Isla Espanola
Our day began with a 7 AM landing at Punta Suarez, where we had a fantastic walk, observing a colony of waved albatross mating and taking off from the cliffs near "Albatross Airport". The waved albatross is the largest bird on Galapagos, with a 7 foot wingspan. It can live up to 50 years. They go on long foraging trips of up to 2000 miles, and return to Galapagos after up to six months in the air. Partners re-bond, as these birds pair for life. Albatross mating involves a strange ritual of pecking, bobbing and weaving the head from side to side. When chicks are 6 months old, they take off with their parents, only returning 5-6 years later to breed.
There are said to be 12,000 breeding pairs of waved albatross, representing 90 % of the world's population, in Galapagos. There is only one other island where waved albatross are found, and that is Isla de la Plata off the Ecuadorean coast.
From the cliffs of Punta Suarez one can see all manner of seabirds, including Nazca boobies. redbilled tropicbirds, shearwaters, frigatebirds, swallow-tail gulls, Galapagos gulls, and even the Galapagos hawk. The Nazca booby is unusual in that the mother always hatches two eggs, three to six days apart, with the older one nudging the younger sibling out of the nest, ensuring its eventual death. This is a form of obligatory fledgling fratricide. As for the Galapagos hawk, there are said to be only 180 nesting pairs in the archipelago, which makes it quite vulnerable.
In the emerald waters below, there are Pacific green turtles and swarms of yellow-tail mullet. There is also quite an impressive blowhole at this location.
We snorkeled near Punta Suarez as well, getting right into caves along the rocky shoreline. In the afternoon we sailed to beautiful Gardner Bay, where we were free to walk by ourselves on the white sandy beach. Following this we had another snorkel. That night, Tuesday, we cruised to Floreana Island.