Day 3 - Floreana
Yawn! So early in the morning - yawn! We were all walking, heads turned toward the ocean and the possibility of spotting sea turtles. We didn't notice the tracks in the sand to our right - and then up ahead - in the sand, we spotted our first green sea turtle female. (Chelonia mydas)
Day 3 began with an early (6:30 am) wet landing and walk on Punta Cormorant. There had to be a pretty powerful motivation for me to get up that early - we'd been told there might be sea turtles at Punta Cormorant and I'd never seen one - so - up and out I was!
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We walked to a beautiful white sand beach, going past another trail that led to a lagoon where, with the help of a powerful spotting scope, we could see a flock of pink flamingoes feeding. I did get one pic but the flamingoes look like pink specks in the water. You'll just have to take my word for it.
The females lumber ashore and dig out deep holes in the soft sand. The effort is exhausting but then comes the real effort - the laying of their eggs. This process can take all night. After their eggs are laid, they are faced with the challenge of making their way back down the long expanse of sand to reach the water. This female was struggling mightily. It took her about a half hour to plow her way back down the beach. Most of us were cheering her on and actually wouldn't leave until we were sure that she had made it into the water. It's hard to describe the feeling of elation we felt at her accomplishment!
She's more than halfway to the water, when up the beach, heading in the opposite direction comes a Galapagos sea lion - so much life here!
She made it!!
Hmm - somethin' happenin' here....
Once we saw that the female was safely back in the water, our attention turned TO the water. We began to notice - there was a lot of activity going on in the calm-looking ocean that had, somehow, escaped our attention!
Yes, folks - it's the "F" word - "fecundity." The marine iguanas have it, the waved albatrosses have it, and the green sea turtles are having it!! It ain't called "the Enchanted Islands" for nuthin'!
Christmas colors!
Endemic species:
Marine Iguana
(Amblyrhynchus
cristatus)
We were back aboard the Islander for breakfast at 8:30. Then it was off in the zodiac for a cruise around Champion Islet. We returned to the ship for lunch and a talk on Darwin, then we were out again for a short cruise to Post Office Barrel and the surrounding bay.
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii excisa)
The Nat Geo naturalists were outstanding - if I haven't said it before - my bad! The reason we saw so many of the Galapagos Islands' endemic species was because our naturalists knew just where to look. That - and - we were lucky!
Galapagos-born naturalist, Jonathan had just told us about the Floreana (Charles) mockingbird, an endangered species, only 400 or so on the island, and our chances of seeing one were...Jonathan - is that? on the rock behind you? OMG - it is!! One greeted our zodiac as we approached the bay at Champion Islet! As we cruised around the rocky shores, saying how great that sighting was - wait a minute! is that? is that the same one? NO! It's another one - the markings are slightly different!! What are the chances?!! And that's the way it went on the whole expedition - you want a Galapagos hawk? Oh - there it is! You want a short-eared owl? Oh - there it is! Galapagos penguin? Yep.
Endemic species:
Charles (Floreana) mockingbird
(Mimus trifasciatus)
Most visitors to the Galapagos come with a bit of knowledge about the islands' most famous visitor, Charles Darwin. Few, though, are familiar with the Agatha Christie-like goings-on in the 1930's, when Floreana was settled by two couples, who were joined by a "Baroness" von Wagner Bosquet. After a sequence of disappearances and strange, unexplained deaths (possibly a murder or two), most of the settlers that were left standing, departed. A 2013 movie "The Galapagos Affair" examined the events that transpired here.
At some point in the journey, I wanted to send letters home that carried a Galapagos postmark and had thought Post Office Bay in Floreana was the place to do this. In the picture above, Jonathan explains how the Post Office here works. You put your postcards in the box and in the next week or month, they are distributed to other groups of tourists; anyone who will be in the vicinity of your postcard's address is asked to hand deliver it. So, Jonathan then reached in, pulled out a stack of postcards and started reading off the cities. Most of us took at least one - as did I. Mine was addressed to someone in Camarillo. When I got back, I tried to deliver but each time my knock went unanswered - so I ultimately left it under the doormat. Three out of four of my postcards were delivered by two German teachers who were touring California after the Galapagos.
Back in the Zodiac we cruised around the bay, and, as always, the rocks and sea teemed with life. It was pretty difficult photographing in the bright sun against the volcanic black/gray/white rocks - and being at the mercy of the current as well.
Brown noddy (Anous stolidus galapagensis)
A school of Yellowfin Surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus)
This was our first sighting of swallow-tailed gulls - an endemic species. There are much larger numbers of these gulls on South Plaza/Santa Fe islets,
Endemic species:
Lava (striated) heron
(Butorides striata sundevalli
What a charmer! Not the most welcoming character on the islands!
An unmistakable silhouette in the sky.
The magnificent frigatebirds had completed their courtship by the time we arrived in December. There were still a few with the bright red neck pouch but I never saw them inflated. Magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens magnificens)
Hiding in the mangroves, a familiar face to Central Coast residents, the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis urinator)
The sea lions were always striking poses!
The Islander was happy to give a lift to a wandering seafarer.
A beautiful ending to another full day in the Galapagos - our second full day in the Islands. In addition to those species pictured above, we also saw the Galapagos petrel*, the Galapagos shearwater*, a yellow-crowned night heron, the Floreana lava lizard*, the Galapagos silver fritillary*, the Galapagos carpenter bee*, and a red sun star*. (* - endemic species).
