This was one of the spots where I was very excited to return to. After traveling around 100 miles, and across the equator, during the night, we arrived at Punta Vicente Roca on the northwestern tip of Isabela Island, here in the Galapagos archipelago. The volcanic geology of the island reminds me so much of Hawaii. Isabela Island is the youngest of the islands, along with Fernandina which we will explore this afternoon, and fresh lava flows happened as recently as three months ago here. Today the volcano was quiet, and the water a bit choppy, but not the big swells that effected my trip so much last time.
The sun and shadows were perfect for this striking profile shot of a blue-footed booby.
Flightless cormorants are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. I guess you don't need to worry about flying when your food is right next to your nest. It was funny to see them drying their wings just like their flying cousins on the mainland.
Guide Dries took about nine of us out in the zodiac to do a coastal tour. Just like last time we got up close to brown noddys, blue footed boobies, and pelicans. More frigate birds flew overhead, and a few Nazca boobies showed up on the volcanic cliffs as well. We saw marine iguanas on the rocks, flightless cormorants drying their wings, and a few Galapagos fur seals. On our way we even saw a huge mola mola launch itself out of the water. The conditions were calm enough that we took the zodiac far back into a sea cave. I was ecstatic with all the animal sightings, but maybe even more excited about the clarity of the water. I knew we would return to this spot for our late morning snorkel, and the conditions just looked magnificent.
Our zodiac tour adventuring deep inside a sea cave.
After chasing a sea lion off the landing platform of La Pinta, we disembarked the zodiak and downed a quick coffee before squeezing into our shorty wetsuits for the snorkel briefing. After a quick rundown of the snorkel procedure and some basics for all the first-timers, we loaded back into the zodiacs for our snorkel. I was so excited that I accidentally left my GoPro camera lying on the hotel managers desk. I quickly realized, so we had time to circle back and grab it. As soon as the zodiac got to the snorkel spot and we were given the go-ahead, I flipped in backwards.
The water was even clearer than I expected. We were snorkeling along a vertical wall that leveled off into the bottom around sixty feet or so. Large colorful wrasse and some king angelfish could be seen, as well as small damselfish and hawkfish closer to the wall. We snorkeled right under roosting brown noddys and blue footed boobies. About ten minutes in things really started heating up. I saw our first flightless cormorant swimming ahead. As I was underwater filming the cormorant the rest of the group had a small group of penguins swim by. Then a young sea lion came in to check us out. Then we got into more and more green sea turtles. I found more cormorants, some big milkfish, and then some marine iguanas.
Surfing flightless cormorant.
Swimming marine iguana.
I was really hoping for some good views of hungry marine iguanas, feeding off algae underwater. Last year, at this spot, I had finally found a feeding iguana, but right then a huge swell came in and brought the visibility down to zero. The viz never really recovered the rest of the week. So when I found several feeding iguanas towards the end of this snorkel I was riding a high. I'm so glad that everyone is getting such amazing weather so far.
This is one of the only photos I got of a nazca, or masked booby.
We were watching a mola mola off the back of the boat and then realized this sea lion was hanging out on our boat. He was still there when we took off in the zodiacs for our morning coastal exploration.
Our chef always had something good cooking. For lunch today we had Galapagos tuna steaks and some BBQ ribs.
The other zodiac entering the cave. Gives a good size reference of how big the opening of this cave is.
The water was very clear here. It should be good for snorkeling next!
Dramatic volcanic scenery along Isabela Island.
This marine iguana was posing on the rocky shore. Being cold-blooded, they need to spend a lot of time warming up their bodies after spending time underwater feeding.
Another basking marine iguana. It remind me a lot of godzilla.
The blue-footed boobies were in some great light for photos this morning.
Brown noddys dotted the coastline. We have these in Hawaii but are never able to get this close.
We started our first full day with a wildlife filled zodiac ride along the volcanic cliffs of Isabela Island.
This was our best look at a Galapagos fur seal. They usually hide in the little caves during the day so as not to overheat.
I never knew what to expect when coming back to the room after an adventure. A towel monkey...not bad.
It was an amazing morning with some amazing wildlife.
As always, Keep traveling!
- Dai Mar