Isabela & Fernandina Islands
Early this morning, as we sailed by the northern tip of the Wolf volcano on the island of Isabela, we sighted a pod of whales, which turned out to be at least 12 sperm whales. The National Geographic Endeavour was navigating towards the equator line and so we asked the first officer to slow down and approach gently, so we could all see them. Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler woke everyone up, and soon we were all on deck. The whales were moving in pairs, acting naively, and I think they could feel our excitement.
After breakfast we moved to the bridge where we witnessed the crossing of the equator, and went from being pollywogs to shellbacks. We continued towards Punta Vicente Roca, and from the decks we could appreciate half of the structure of the Ecuador volcano; the other half sunk in to the ocean about 100,000 years ago.
The National Geographic Endeavour anchored at Punta Vicente Roca, and we all went for a Zodiac ride. It was a fantastic ride: we saw sea turtles, the Pacific Ocean sunfish (mola mola), Galápagos penguins fishing, flightless cormorants, Galápagos fur seals and more. Then we put on our wet suits and went snorkeling. There were sea turtles right beneath us, cormorants diving and fishing, and sea lions swimming gracefully. It was really an amazing morning.
After a good shower back onboard, we were served our traditional Ecuadorian lunch and the National Geographic Endeavour motored toward Punta Espinoza. After a little rest, John Fahey, the National Geographic Society CEO, gave a most interesting talk about the institution and its mission.
We landed at Punta Espinoza on Fernandina which is the most pristine island on earth—everything here is unique, and nothing has been introduced. The marine iguanas are large in numbers and their biomass is greater than the ones from the south and central islands. This is due to the amount of food they find around the western edge, brought by the cold, rich upwelling of the Cromwell current.
We also saw some plants like the lava cactus, mangroves; the recent lava flows; sea lions and lava lizards. The tide was out so we were able to explore the tidal pools and we saw so many Sally Lightfoot crabs, sea turtles, sea lions and lots of shore birds.
We went back on board, had our evening recap with a well-deserved cocktail, and dinner was served afterwards. Tomorrow we will tell you again about our next adventure
