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Published: June 14th 2014
The morning activity was a short hike on the island of Santa Cruz. The walk was mostly along a sandy beach where we saw ghost crabs. These little guys are very different than the Sally Lightfoot crabs we’ve seen elsewhere – they scurry much more quickly and are much more skittish. At the slightest provocation they vanish into the sand. This made the photography a bit more challenging, but we got a few good shots. They have an almost cartoonish appearance, with their eyes attached on stalks above their bodies, as if added as an afterthought. Our main objective was to visit a brackish pond hoping to find the Galapagos flamingos, and we weren’t disappointed. Three of the bizarre birds were working their way through the pool, filtering out the small salt-loving critters that they enjoy eating. While there, we noted something else swimming in the pond and realized it was a marine iguana. It is definitely an odd sight to see an iguana swimming. We made our way back to the beach where we landed and Sonia, John and Andrew snorkeled, while Lauren hopped a transport back to the ship. The snorkeling was good. We started from the beach and
Flamingos
The flamingos are relatively recent migrants to the Galapagos, but have still diverged into a unique species. There are only a few hundred of them due to the limited habitat. There are only a few brackish ponds that have the right composition to provide good food for them.had to work our way out to deeper water by following channels in the underwater lava that formed structures similar to a coral reef. The new find this time was some sort of eel, spotted by Sonia and Andrew found. John continued to improve his skills with the underwater camera, but managed to miss the eel. Luckily he turned the camera over to Andrew who was able to photograph it. Working our way back in proved a bit more difficult, because the path back through the lava rock became to shallow and we had to back-track and find a new route, but we made it in without too much trouble. After a mid-day return to the ship and some lunch, we had our final snorkeling opportunity off the coast of North Seymour Island. This was a deep-water snorkeling trip, so we embarked by Zodiac in our wetsuits, ready to jump into the water. Crossing the bay from the ship, we stopped to observe a large number of hammerhead sharks which were cruising in the clear water, occasionally showing us a dorsal fin, or at other times, just showing off their characteristic silhouette. After enjoying them for a bit, we motored
Ghost crab
Seen near his hole in the sand. These crabs are quite skittish and can rapidly disappear into the sand if alarmed. Photographed by Andrew, who was patient enough to wait for him to come back out. on another 50 yards or so and were told to hop in for our afternoon snorkel. There were no assurances about the sharks, so Sonia, Lauren and Andrew needed to work through their anxieties before jumping into the water. But no sharks were sighted as we followed the coastline. Of all the snorkeling spots we visited, this one had the clearest water, giving excellent visibility. We saw many of the same fish, just a bit more clearly than previously. However, we were thrilled to encounter some sea lions frolicking in the water and had the opportunity to observe them up close and beneath the waves. When we reached the end of the snorkeling area, we were picked up by the Zodiac, where it became clear that several of our group had gotten mild jelly-fish stings while snorkeling. Back at the ship, we quickly got cleaned up for the afternoon outing to North Seymour Island. This small island off the coast of Santa Cruz provides an opportunity to see the nesting grounds of some of the amazing birds of the Galapagos. Shortly after stepping of the Zodiac, we were greeted by a group of sea lions lounging on the rocks. The
View from Santa Cruz
Nice view of the contrast between white coral sand and black lava framed by ocean and sky. kids oohed and aahed before being pried away to start down the trail. We first encountered a land iguana. These cousins of the marine iguana live inland and feed primarily on the cactus plants to obtain both food and fresh water. We watched one very slowly and carefully find a good perch to make a leap at a prickly pear cactus leaf that was just out of his reach. The first time he missed (rather ungracefully) but on the second attempt he was rewarded as he pulled a whole cactus ear down to eat at his leisure. The main attraction of the island was the opportunity to see the blue-footed boobies and frigate birds up close. There are two varieties of frigate birds: great and magnificent (our guide joked that they were named like Starbucks coffees). When seeking mates, the males inflate their bright red chest pouches to attract females. We photographed many males, but were unsure which one was the most desirable. As a simple rule of thumb, we are told, bigger is better. We saw many juvenile frigate birds, which are quite large, but distinguishable from adults by their white heads. The blue-footed boobies nest in the same
Marine Iguana
Despite the availability of some greenery on land during low tide, these guys still dive for the really fresh stuff. area and we got to witness some courtship with two males vying for the affections of a single female. While the frigate birds have the impressive black wings and cool name, it’s actually the boobies who are the great hunters – they dive into the water to catch fish, while the frigate birds get a significant amount of their diet by stealing from others. Sonia and John were enthralled with the odd and very large birds. The birds, by contrast, took no notice of the tourists traipsing by and snapping photos. The kids were more interested in the sea lions. As the trail turned back towards the beach, Lauren spotted a lone sea lion lounging just above the rocks. He initially took no notice as she posed for photos with him. As she tried to mimic his restful pose, he became intrigued and abruptly hopped up to investigate, sending Lauren scrambling (an event we were delighted to capture in photographs). As we walked back along the beach we saw plenty more sea lions as well as some birds nesting closer to the water’s edge. We did get to see a pair of booby chicks peeking out of their nest from
Parrotfish
We saw lots of these -- and really big ones. Often close to two feet long and seemingly quite well fed. beneath their mother. Back on board, we had a fine evening in the (now) usual fashion.
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