Our early morning view... the last of the bananas who were crushed against the railing. In the distance a more luxurious Yacht. These were always full of much older people (cashed up) who eyed us suspiciously when we came across them on the islands. They were always wearing beige shorts...Hi!
After the now usual huge breakfast we got our stuff together for a dry landing at Punta Suarez, where we were immediately met by a Sealion on the slippery small concrete steps that Lobo assured us we would fall on! The Sealion made a lot of noise about getting off and swam away noisily. There were two more groups already here at 7am finishing their tour so we had to wait around on the lava rocks for a bit. This was the perfect opportunity to get a good look at some larger Marine Iguana's who were dozing in the morning sun.
It's here on Isla Espanola that the Marine Iguana's are the most colourful. The colour variation occurs in an El Nino event when their staple diet of green algae is in decline and they have to eat red algae. This one has its eyes shut. They can grow up to a meter and a half in length and even weigh up to 13kg.
The beautiful Hood Mockingbird that is highly inquisitive and Lobo warned us that they would 'beg' for water, knowing that tourists in the past would give the birds water from their bottles. This one was straight into Lynne's bag for a nosey around. The Hood Mockingbird is the largest and boldest of the Mockingbirds and is endemic to Espanola.
Just off the dry landing area Sealions were strewn about sleeping off the nights fishing activities.
We followed the trail across the beach and inland with Lobo. He told us that each boat and naturalist guide had a window of time to be near and on any given island. This was working out well it seemed as this was the only time we had really come across another group.
Oooh yeah, I am really comfy with my rock arrangement.
The Sealions just looked so blissed out and comfy. There was actually a lot of sneezing, coughing coming from the sealion colony here. The male Bull was barking noisily near the shore line. I just loved the colours of their bodies when they are dry.
A juvenile pup suckling from its Mum.
Marine Iguana's sun worshipping in formation. This kind of behaviour was common in these sociable animals.
Following the trail to the coast we got our first sighting of the Nazca Boobie. The rocks are covered in Guano creating a pleasing visual effect.
The Nazca Boobie's nesting on the ground near the cliff edge. The Nazca Boobie is now recognised as a species in its own right, previously it was thought to be a sub-species of the Masked Boobie. The four species of Boobie found in the Galapagos Islands manage to exist in harmony by all occupying different nesting habitats and feeding on different fish at different marine zones all brought about by the Humbold Current.
Following the cliff edge trail.
Nazca boobies like the other three species of Boobie all have the same comedy courtship dance that involves lifting one foot up in the air and waving it, then doing the same with the other whilst facing each other.
A male Hood Lava Lizard, the biggest and most colouful of the Lava Lizards, this one is endemic to Espanola. The males nod their heads when defending their rocky territory and the colour that is then exposed in this action acts as a warning to other males. The lava Lizards are preyed on by Galapagos Hawks. Sadly we didn't see any Hawks up close enough to get a photo of. When Wiji did see a hawk and asked Lobo what it was he said that it was a Galapagos Hawk in his usual dry tone.
Nazca Boobies. only having to lift their wings at the cliff edge to take flight. Like the other three species of Boobie they dive, arrow like into the sea beak first to spear and eat fish before they even emerge from the surface of the ocean.
We followed the trail around up onto a headland that was flat and open. Here we saw what I had been really looking forward to seeing the, Waved Albatross that nests on Espanola and is the only Albatross that breeds in the tropics. They are enormous and have the most beautiful faces and colouration. I was mesmerised. This is a pair next to their nest. The bird on the nest is about to sway from side to side as part of its elaborate courtship ritual.
Looking straight at us you can really see those lovely 'eyebrows'. After months at sea the males return first to claim their breeding territory and wait for the females.
It was here that I really appreciated the harmonious colouration of these magnificent birds with the surrounding landscape. Females lay one egg that is incubated for 60 days and maybe even rolled some 50 meters by the adults to new sites.
A juvenile Blue Footed Boobie with its dowdy brown feathers.
Walking along the trail by the blow hole, Wiji looked over the cliff edge and way below were a huddle of Marine Iguana's.
Wiji took this great shot of the Waved Albatros flying near the Blowhole. After many attempts. The Waved Albatross needs winds of at least 18km an hour to stay airborn. The breeding cycle is linked to trade winds that blow here between March and December. During the warmer months they dipserse into the Humbold Current off Ecuador and Peru.
After walking our way around the trail on Espanola we made our way through some head high shrubs to see more of the Waved Albatross colony in the distance. The trail was a full loop. We then went back to the Floreana by dinghy.
Later after the walk I noticed that we had picked up a couple of passengers. A Juvenile and adult Brown Pelican. They have a wing span of 2 meters. These two were content to sit on the dinghy. Even though the crew where periodically shooing them off they returned. They are known to follow tour boats to scavenge scraps.
After lunch and relaxation time (I see a pattern emerging) we were anchored opposite Gardner Bay and went out in the dinghy for about a quarter of an hours ride away from the Floreana to a steep cliff spotted with caves. Here we were told that we could snorkle back the length of the cliffs that we had passed...it was quite some distance, which was ideal. We got in the water with our underwater camera case and headed for the cliff edge. It was really spectacular immediately with great visibility down the cliff face into the water. We could see fishes at many differnt levels.
A Diamond Ray that Wiji dove down to photograph.
Many, many smaller starfish against rocks deeper down.
Fortunately some where nearer the surface and it was really sunny so the light was perfect for photographing them.
A Moorish Idol with their long dorsal fin pegs it off bottom right. We didn't get to see may of these.
Another vast dinner plate size star fish.
Wiji swimming into the depths.
Watching the fish as we followed the cliff edge around the corner.
Moorish Idols scooting off into a crevice in the rocks.
We were swimming in the rich Littoral zone, the area below the high water mark, extending as far down as the light will carry.
This fish was super camouflaged on the rock near the surface. We swam right up to it and looked at it without it swimming off.
A similar fish, but with different markings.
Looking down into the blue depths.
It was brilliant swimming over the large tumbles of lava under the water.
A massive spiny Sea Urchin surrounded by many tiny orange fish.
Looking up for a bit at the cliffs revealed one of several caves that we could swim into.
An enormous pinkish brown fish in amoungst the usual candidates that weren't affraid of snorkellers.
Around another corner of the cliff.
And into some very shallow water above some boulders, but the swell was gentle and the sun had really warmed the water so it was really pleasant to be snorkelling. We were going at a leisurely pace, and soon realised that the group had left us behind.
One of the Hog Fish species that were about 2 foot in length.
Looking back at the volcanic landscape in contrast to the turquoise waters.
A large area of orange Sea Anenomes. Although the Galapagos straddles the Equator there are no coral reefs, and coral only grows in a few locations.
This is the ony coral that we saw. Corals are tiny animals related to the jellyfish that live in vast colonies. Hard coral is formed by calcium carbonate secreated by these creatures to form a protective coating. This was soft coral.
Swimming into one of the larger caves we were struck by how cold it was. We could not get any underwater shots because it was too dark and the flash lit up only a tiny area in front of us. We did come across some bigger Sealions in there that we left to themselves.
Following these tiny blue and orange fish was difficult. They were interested in the Sea Anenomes.
Who are you? Nicely camouflages near the Green Sea Urchins.
This large fish in the center of the shot was highly photographed by Wiji and seemed to be his favourite...we ended up with many part photos of them pegging it away! They were stunning though and were never in a shoal.
Get out of the way!...not that the fish were particularly alarmed.
One we hadn't seen before.
Wiji's top spot. A Cornet Fish. There was also a Trumpet fish that was similar. Quite hard to spot because of its size and shape, this one was hanging about in the calmer waters.
We encountered some large shoals.
By this point we were the last ones in the water. We had been in for about an hour and a half. We asked Lobo the time and assertained that we had about 10 mins before we were due to get in the dinghys and go to Gardner Bay. So sadly we did have to get out. We could have stayed in much longer than this as it was a very relaxing snorkle session with great light. So we got back in the dinghy with Lobo and went off to the Floreana. No sooner were we aboard than the bell was rung for us to get back in the dinghies...so we did! Well we already had our swimming stuff on. The rest of the group had been relaxing on the loungers eating the snacks prepared by Marjorie.
Gardner Bay was voted one of the worlds most beautiful beaches...by someone apparently, and we could well believe it. I managed to fall out of the dinghy as we arrived, which was quite a comedy moment...lucky then that I still had my snorkelling stuff on! We had a bit of a wander with Kirsty and Johann and collectively decided to swim out to and around Isla Tortuga off Gardner Bay in a bid to see some turtles. We didn't see any!
We did see a lot of Sea Slugs...interesting, but not quite the thrilling experience we were after...
Although this one is a beauty, and massive!
Finally we got to see something more interesting a Marble Ray. Johann spotted several on his way out to the rock and tried to shout to us all, but we had our heads down snorkelling off. So we were all chuffed to see these. Wiji dived down to get this amazing piccy...not too close Wiji!
They swam off after trying to hide from us in the sand.
So we swam back to the shore and spent some time watching the resident Sealion colony.
The sand on the beach was absolutely beautiful and soft. Lobo informed us that this beautiful beach is an organic beach formed by shells and shit. The beach really did smell of fishy Sealion poo. This didn't put us off enjoying it with the residents.
Wiji with a Bull Sealion. It was huge and fortunately asleep.
I love the way the Sealions tuck their flippers and tails in...so neat!
Lots of Sealion pups were playing in the surf.
The early evening light.
Thats the rock that we swam out to on the left.
We couldn't keep out of the water!
Gorgeous boy.xxx
Uri and Einat, another great photo for your collection.
Then it was back to the Floreana for showers and dinner...another amazing action packed day!
Here's a movie with sound made up of short pieces from the whole day:
* Sealion pup on Punta Suarez beach.
* The Hood Mockingbird.
* Nazca Boobies.
* A pair of Waved Albatros.
* The blowhole.
* Wiji swimming up from the depths to surprise Johann.
* The waves at the cliff edge.
* Sealion pups cause havock on Gardner Bay.
1 comment:
Great pic of the albatross, and nice ones of you two together. You both look so healthy!
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