3rd April 2018
Boobies seem to form the majority of the land-based wildlife action of the first two days on this cruise. Today, the activity was based around the Galapagos island of Española, at the south-eastern corner of the archipelago. The morning excursion was basically a hike around the island to see what was on offer. Apart from the ubiquitous sealions
it became clear that there was going to be some serious marine iguana action, as there were plenty on the beach and surrounding rocks.
and after a while, it became equally clear that actually one had to watch one’s step, as, even though keeping carefully to a prescribed path, there was a serious danger of stepping on one. But it was great to see so many of them, in all of their various colours.
As well as the iguanas (marine iguanas exist only in the Galapagos, but there are 13 different varieties here), we also saw Sally Lightfoot crabs
and much bird life, including the Galapagos Dove
the Hood Mockingbird (largest of the various species of Mockingbirds found in the Galapagos)
the brown Pelican (the only sort found in the Galapagos)
a Yellow Warbler (called, very charmingly by our guide Natasha, a “Yellow Wobbler”)
and one (who knows which) of the thirteen species of Darwin’s Finch, the key to identification being the size and shape of the bill.
All this was within a few metres of the start of a 2-mile hike in increasingly hot conditions. But it got more and more interesting as we walked around.
We saw a site where many, many iguanas were setting up and guarding their burrows. This involved a certain amount of aggro as one female iguana tried to make sure that no other females came near her burrow.
And the other side of the track, there was a cliff down which iguanas could be seen climbing, and entering the sea to feed.
We also caught a glimpse of the other kind of sealion to be found in the Galapagos, the furred sealion.
But actually our attention was mainly taken up with a colony of Nazca Boobies, the largest of the three sorts to be found here.
There were lots and lots of them, from newly-hatched youngsters
many of which were demanding to be fed
through “adolescent” birds
to adults, many of whom were raising chicks.
And of course the whole area was shared with the island’s other wildlife.
Around this point, at the northern end of the island, some people swore they saw an albatross. If so, it would have been a very early arrival, as they arrive during April to mate and breed and this was April 3. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. I certainly didn’t.
A little further on we had a bit of geological entertainment in the form of a blow-hole, which was both dramatic and beatifully colourful
and we also spotted a Galapagos Hawk in the distance.
So it was a day of seeing some familiar and some new things. It was very hot by the time we finished, and so it was a blessed releief to get back to the ship and a nice cold drink. We were lazy the rest of the day (as I say, these blogs don’t write themselves) and with all of the photographic goodness from the morning to deal with, an afternoon of organising and writing and drinking beer beckoned, rather than the paddleboarding, snorkelling and beach (more bloody sealions!) offered. And so we had a relaxed afternoon, thinking we would save up energy for whatever the morrow had to offer. However, Mother Nature had one more surprise in store for us.
As yet another good dinner on the excellent M/V Origin drew towards a close, there was an excited announcement from the naturalist leader on the boat – sharks!
So we all congregated at the stern, where, in the ship’s lights, we could see shoals of fish swirling about. Two things made this unusual: firstly, the shoal was being hunted by maybe a dozen 2-metre long Galapagos sharks; and secondly, these were flying fish. There followed about half an hour of extraordinary scenes as sharks rushed in to attempt to take fish and the fish, in turn, took to the air to escape. It was an amazing scene, but very difficult to capture. Here’s the best attempt I made to capture the somewhat febrile atmosphere of the whole thing.
This was a remarkable, very unusual scene, and something we felt privileged to have seen. It’s been a lucky excursion – boobies with three eggs and indeed elsewhere with three chicks; leaping dolphins (you’ll have to read the next entry for that); fighting iguanas; juvenile flamingoes; we feel that we’ve got great value and insight out of our time here – and it’s not over, by any means.