Galápagos - Fernandina Island

I was unable to upload my blip last night, I tried for over an hour but the wifi was too weak - not surprising when we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! I have had to reduce my image files to the smallest size possible so the quality is not as good as it should be, and even then it takes hours to upload.

We sailed last night to Isabella Island. We were up again early this morning for a 7.30am departure on the zodiac for a tour of Punta Vicente Roca, which is an area abundant with green turtles, Galapagos sea lions and Galapagos fur seals. The latter is not actually a seal but a sea lion, and was misnamed by whalers back in the 1800’s so the name has stuck. As you cannot land on this island the zodiac motors very slowly as close as possible to the cliff faces where you can see the animals and birds. We saw marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, the flightless cormorant, blue footed boobies, nazca boobies, frigate birds, brown pelicans, a Galapagos hawk, and many green turtles. I loved watching the flightless cormorants walk down to the water’s edge and then dive really deep to fish.Despite trying to balance in a moving boat I was able to get some great photos and I wish I could share them here but I cannot upload any extras. I have also been pleased with the shots I have captured of these birds in flight. The expedition leader on our zodiac is a fountain of knowledge and so we are also learning so much about these animals and birds. The bird life here is incredible, and from our cabin I can watch Blue footed boobies diving for fish. People often think that the Galapagos Islands are tropical, which is inaccurate. While they may be on the equator they are actually volcanic islands, with eruptions happening quite regularly requiring new maps to be drawn due to the increasing land mass as a result of larva flow. There is very little vegetation growing here due to the rocky, volcanic areas, and the animals that survive here do so in difficult conditions and have had to adapt - as Darwin discovered with the finches.

Then back to the main boat for a coffee, and the boys then were taken snorkelling back in the area where we had visited earlier. I was going to go snorkelling today but it was a deep sea snorkel, jumping in from the zodiac and the water was colder today so I chickened out! Gavin is recording the underwater sightings on a GoPro so I do watch it when they get back.

After lunch we had an excellent lecture from a marine biologist who specialises in sea lions, seals and whales. Then later in the afternoon we had our second expedition of the day when we visited Punta Espinosa on Fernandina Island, and area full of marine iguanas. The ground is larva rock and the marine iguanas blend in so well you almost step on them! I got so many photos that I really liked, it was difficult choosing one for blip, but this flightless cormorant drying his stubby little wings as the sun was starting to set was my favourite. The flightless cormorant does not fly at all but can dive deep into the water and is a very good at fishing.