Fernandina and Isabela, 28 Sep 2017

Sunrise over bay at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina

We woke up on Thursday the 28th anchored off of Fernandina Island. This is the island made famous by the Planet Earth II sequence with snakes and a baby iguana. Sadly, we did not see any of the snakes. But we saw other wild behavior!

Our landing was in a mangrove forest:

Mangrove Landing

We started with a hike through the lava. We avoided the sand because Marine Iguanas were nesting in it:

Marine Iguana nest

Fernandina is the youngest of the Galápagos islands. As such, it is still being built, with very young lava flows - its central volcano had erupted only a couple of weeks before we were there. One of the first colonizers of the lava is this cactus:

Lava Cactus

Our naturalist Fabricio told us that, although the Lava Cactus is a good "first inhabitant" it does not compete well with other plant species. So its role is to colonize, create soil with organic matter, and die.

There was lots of scenic lava:

Jill on Fernandina

There were also various mortal remains - someone had arranged this whale skeleton, dolphin skull, and turtle bones decoratively:

"Look at the bones!'

There are many sea lions on Fernandina:

Galápagos Sea Lion

As well as many marine iguanas:

Marine Iguana with Lava Lizard sentinal

Marine Iguana

The lava lizards hang out on the iguanas' heads to eat the insects that are attracted by the iguanas. The lizards get a snack, the iguanas get insect relief.

In the recent 2014-2016 El Niño event, many marine iguanas perished. Their remains are still evident:

Marine Iguana mummy

Marine Iguana skull

Populations have rebounded, though. But it was a sad reminder of how global warming is impacting these islands, too, through longer and more severe climate events and shifting seasons.

A highlight of this excursion was a newborn Galápagos Fur Seal - only a few hours old:

Mama and newborn Galápagos Fur Seals

The event was very recent, as evidenced by the placenta nearby. Sea lion placentas are a major factor in the Galápagos ecosystem - they are eaten by the Galápagos Hawk, as well as by Lava Lizards (the lizards also eat the insects that are attracted to the placenta):

Lava Lizard snacking on some rich nutrients

The newborn had yet to suckle, and the mom was spending much of her remaining energy to coax it to the right spot. At one point, she grabbed the pup by the scruff of its neck and pulled it toward her teats:

Mama and newborn Galápagos Fur Seals

Mama Galápagos Fur Seal dragging newborn to teats

"They're right here!"

Eventually, they got their act together. We moved on to other things, including this foamy Sally Lightfoot Crab:

Sally Lightfoot Crab and foam

It's not clear whether the foam is for eggs or whether it was in preparation for molting.

We also saw another of the Lava Herons:

Lava Heron

After a little more wandering, we returned to the ship and then headed back out for snorkeling:

Barb, Pete, Jill, Francois, Sofia

Our target was Green Sea Turtles and Marine Iguanas feeding. We found the iguanas first:

Marine Iguana feeding on algae

I also got video of an iguana eating:

As well as video of one swimming:

We also saw green sea turtles feeding:

And swimming:

There were also the usual pelicans, flightless cormorants, and so on. We returned to the ship promptly so that we could move on to our next destination.

Our next stop was Tagus Cove on Isabela. On the way, I set up my fisheye lens to take a time-lapse sequence of one hour of cruising sped up by 90x to fit in 40 seconds:

When we arrived, Jill spotted a Galapágos Hawk. It was pretty far away, but I snapped some quick photos:

Galapágos Hawk

At Tagus Cove, the main activity was a rapid hike to the top of a hill that allowed a panoramic view of the surrounds:

Cedric, Sarah, Fabricio, Barb

The cove itself is visible at the left of the panorama. Scroll down for a better pictures. We also took time for photos of our group at the top:

Barb, Mariangela, Pete, Francois, Cedric, Fabricio, Sarah, Pedro

Ross

That was my usual excursion gear - hat, sunglasses, cameras, bag (not visible), hiking shoes. Don't forget the sunscreen!

On the way back, I got this nice photo of the salt lake near the cove:

Salt lake near Tagus Cove

Also on the way back, I spotted this juvenile Galapágos Hawk who was joined by the adult:

Galapágos Hawk, juvenile

Galapágos Hawk, adult and juvenile

We got on the Pangas and I continued to take some photos of the pair (a bit blurry due to the motion of the ocean):

Galapágos Hawk, juvenile and adult

Onboard the panga, we toured the rocky cliffs. We saw Flightless Cormorants nesting:

Flightless Cormorants

The cormorants would collect bits of seaweed and use it both in courtship as seen in the first picture as well as for nesting material.

We also saw several Galápagos Penguins:

Galápagos Penguins

And more:

Galápagos Penguins

Natasha, Sofia, Jill, Marie

Jill, Marie, and Sofia with penguins

Still more:

Galápagos Penguin

Penguin, Jill, Marie, and Panga pilot

Galápagos Penguins

We also saw Sanderlings, Blue-footed Boobys, and iguanas:

Sanderling

Marine Iguana

Blue-footed Boobys

Sanderling

There was an extra bonus Great Blue Heron, a swimming Flightless Cormorants, and some Boobys flying:

Great Blue Heron

Flightless Cormorant

Boobys

But the big excitement of the day was yet to come. Our guides were on the radios - they had heard that whale spouts had been seen out in the channel. So we went out to sea and found - a pod of orcas!

Orcas

The orcas were so close that my large lens was somewhat of an impediment. But I got some very nice close-ups:

Orca with remoras

Orca

I took lots of pictures...

Orcas

LOTS of pictures...

Orcas

Good thing I had a 128GB flash card...

Orcas

Orca

Orcas

Orca

Did I mention I have an itchy shutter trigger finger?

Orcas

These are the iconic photos of both this event as well as the entire vacation; I took the first one, Jill took the second one from the other Panga:

Orca, Sofia, Marie, Jill, Natasha, Panga pilot

Panga pilot, Francois, Mariangela, Cedric, Pete, Pedro, Barb, Sarah, Ross, Fabricio, Orca

I think this is the same moment separated only by seconds.

While this was all going on, I heard that there was a whale of some kind behind us. I snapped some photos:

Sei Whale (?)

It was hard to see. But from the behavior and size, I think it was a Sei Whale. This whale did not show much back or beak, which is typical of a Sei Whale feeding. I would guess it was something like 40 feet long. The other possibility is a Bryde's Whale, but my googling seems to show Bryde's is more likely to show its beak when blowing.

When the excitement was done, we returned to the Origin, and watched the orcas swim away: