can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

American Spirit II - Day 51; Giant Tortoises; Land Inguanas; & Swimming with Flightless Cormorants



Our first event of the day was a hike at Urbina Bay on Isabella Island. Located at the foot of Alcedo volcano. We were transported to the island on the panga's from the M/V Fragata. It was a 'wet landing', meaning that we had to exit the dingy in the surf. We did so on to a steep, volcanic, black sandy beach. Upon exiting the dinghies, we observed an area of green turtle nesting mounds, which was off limits to us. Upon walking on a trail on the island, we came upon the skull of a male sea lion. You could tell it was a male because of the bony ridge at the top of the skull. We then observed a giant tortoise walking down a trail. He stopped and retracted his head and legs once he became aware of our presence. After we left, he continued walking down the trail, hoisting his body 8 inches above the ground and walking slowly and deliberately, one leg at a time. When I passed him he dropped to his belly and hissed loudly.

Next we saw large land iguanas. These were much larger than the marine iguana's we saw and swam with yesterday; and were the color of dessert sand. We also saw yellow finches and the shell of a dead tortoise, with no carcass in it.

At the end of our hike, we donned our snorkeling gear and entered the water. We saw green sea turtles eating algae on the rocks, two large sting rays laying on the bottom partially covered in sand, one lobster held by a guide from a different boat, schools of bait fish, puffer fish and box fish. The water was colder than previous snorkels, at 70 degrees.

Once back on the boat we weighed anchor and headed off to our second destination of the day, Tagus Bay on Isabella Island. On the way, a Frigate bird sat on our radar mast, and two other fought for no apparent reason. A male with a red beak and red upper chest was harassed by a larger female. While flying, she would attack him and they would drop out of the sky in combat.

During our 2:00 PM hike, walked up a few hundred meters to Darwin (saltwater) Lake set in a crater. Along the rocky and cliff faced shore was graffitti, some dating back to the 1800's from whaling ship crews. Before being picked up by a panga on the way back from the hike, we came upon 5 Flightless Cormorants at the edge of the water on the rocks. They were involved in animated communication with each other.

We snorkeled from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM, and saw green turtles eating algae; and four different types of star fish, the most prominent of which were red or yellow. These were on the vertical underwater cliff face.

A group of Flightless Cormorants took to the water and swam around and thru us at high rates of speed. They were very aggressive and one had to move back when they 'attacked.' One flew by me underwater chasing a fish, and I followed him down about 10 feet where he continued his hunt for food, catching him on video the entire time. Others in our group saw penguins shooting around in the water like we had with us yesterday.

Once we were done snorkeling along the cliff face, we had to snorkel over to our boat, which was located a couple hundred away from the cliff face. This we did in deep water with very limited visibility. A perfect area for a shark experience.

Once back on board we weighed anchor again, and headed north around Isabella Island to our next destination on Monday. Up on the sun deck or fourth level of the vessel, we observed on 4 or 5 occasions eagle rays jumping out of the water to rid themselves of parasites stuck to their bodies. Each eagle ray we observed would jump 2 or 3 times, exposing their bright white underbellies when doing so. We also saw large fins belonging to sun fish on two occasions.

Dessert after dinner consisted of birthday cake for Elizabeth from the sailboat Caduceus.

Brian Fox




Previous | Next