Back to San Cristobal Island and onward

Blue-footed with tiny chick under her breast

Yesterday was our last full day in the Galapagos, a wonderland of birds, sea mammals, and reptiles.  The previous night, we were underway most of the night in order to get back to San Cristobal Island where we snorkeled off a gorgeous beach and walked on a remote part of the island.

Stately brown pelican

Here, too, are blue-footed boobies and their babies, lots of iguanas, marine turtles, brown pelicans, sea lions with their babies, and frigate birds.  Some frigate birds were mating, so we were able to see a couple of the males displaying their wares in the form of bright red, ballooning throats.  Quite a fascinating attraction.

Friendly, curious sea lions swam with us while we snorkeled, sometimes bumping their noses gently into us and leaping out of the water in graceful arcs, impressing us with their athletic abilities.  A couple of people swam with a marine turtle who was much less interested in them than they were in her.  These are very large creatures who can stay underwater up to 12 hours.  From the shore and also from the Majestic, we could see their heads bobbing up through the waves, mixing it up with the playful sea lions.  The turtles are much less interested in the sea lions than the latter are in them.

Today, we are waiting for our much-delayed flight to Coca, a town in the Amazon Basin.  More on what we do and see in the coming days.

Male frigate bird showing off his red throat

Crew of the Majestic at farewell dinner

handsome iguana headed to the ocean to eat

Rabida's large bay, great for snorkeling along the cliffs

Rabida Island is an overnight sail from Genovesa, so we arrived in the early morning at this islet, formed in the last 1.5 million years from its volcano’s huge lava flows.  Because it is relatively new, the lava is black and rough, but still home to thousands of birds and reptiles.

Rabida--turquoise cove 

We walked along a rocky red beach to a trail that curves upward to a view point and then meanders back to the beach, right by one of the prettiest coves of turquoise water and black lava I have ever seen.  On the way, we passed sea lions with their babies, blue-footed boobies diving for fish and the ever-present frigate birds eager to snatch the boobies’ catch literally out of their beaks.

sea star on beach

Lots of star fish, now called sea stars, had washed up on the beach and we learned why during our snorkel along one of Rabida’s rocky cliffs.  We saw thousands of sea stars on the sand of the shallow ledge just off the cliffs.  Several people saw sharks.  We could watch underwater as the diving boobies hit the surface and quickly grabbed one of the small fish circulating in the midst of a swarm of siblings.  They are extremely efficient in their motion, diving from a height of several hundred feet like little missiles, streamlined by plastering their wings against their bodies, pointing their beaks and necks straight down and tucking their feet.  They hit the water like Olympic divers, straight in with minimal splash, high speed and great accuracy, quickly flying straight up out of the water with, if they're lucky, their prize fish.

Blue-footed Boobies on cliff

Here, too, lives a small grey heron.  We watched one of them scouring the rocks for tiny black crabs.  When she found one, she struck like lightening, gobbling it up in just a few seconds, no doubt an adaptation that enables her to keep her own food away from the frigate birds.  Brown pelicans, American oyster catchers and the Galapagos hawk share the island with the blue-footed boobies and frigate birds, each fitting into its particular niche in this stark environment.

We moved in the afternoon to a tinier islet, Chinese Hat, which does, indeed, look a bit like a hat.  We snorkeled in a calm bay, seeing very large fish and 2 sharks.  I think this was the best snorkeling we’ve had during the trip because of the abundance of the fish and the gorgeous colors they display.  As we neared the rocks at the end of the bay, 2 Galapagos penguins watched us from their perches on the lava. 

Galapagos Gray Heron

They are thin in numbers right now due to the devastating effects of the last El Nino a couple of years ago which brought warm water to these islands, killing off the algae that the iguanas and marine turtles rely on.  Fish numbers also dropped dramatically, causing starvation among many of the bird populations including the penguins.

Late in the afternoon, we landed on Chinese Hat and followed a rocky trail along the shore.  This must be a sea lion nursery because we saw so many new mothers with their babies, including several newborns from earlier in the day.  Their faces are so sweet and they are all so unafraid of us.  Their big predators are the sharks that live in these waters.  Many sea lions have large scars on their bodies, showing a very close call with a shark.  And these are the ones that survived.

American Oyster Catcher

Several of the babies, only about 2 to 3 weeks old, lay on the rocks or sand waiting for their mothers to return from fishing far out at sea.  The mothers do not leave their babies for 2 weeks, nursing them all that time without food.  Finally, they have to eat to survive, so leave their infants for several days in order to feed themselves and be able to produce the milk the babies need.  Some of the little ones looked very skinny as they awaited their mothers’ return.  Our guide told us that within a day of having their mothers back, the babies would have round, full bellies.  But, this must be a trying time for these bewildered and patient little creatures.

Marine iguanas enjoying last sunlight

Chinese Hat just before sunset

skinny 2 week old sea lion pup awaiting mother's return from hunting

Galapagos penguin

Mother sea lion d baby

Genovesa, home to thousands

baby Nasca Booby on our path to the flat top of Genovesa

Genovesa, probably my favorite Galapagos island, is the nesting place for thousands of red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, frigate birds and a variety of gulls.  Neither blue-footed boobies nor albatrosses nest here.  One has to wonder why, since all these birds fly long distances, they are so specialized in their breeding areas.

boats in Genovesa's caldera at sunset

Today, as we climbed the steps from the rocky landing site to Genovesa’s flat top covered with sharp and fractured lava, a lovely baby red-footed boobie, still covered in its white plumage, was resting right in the path, waiting for its parents to come home with food.  It tolerated the first 2 or 3 humans quite well, but became really annoyed with the rest of us, pecking at our legs with its long beak.  When we returned to our dinghies, there it still was, just as determined to block our path.

adult Red-footed Booby

The animals and birds on the Galapagos Islands have no fear of humans.  You can walk right up to any of them—no touching!—and they will neither move nor exhibit signs of alarm.  The National Park Service has laid out paths through the nesting colonies on all the islands tourists can visit, so that it appears the birds, iguanas, tortoises and lizards all know that if they are outside the path boundaries, they are safe.  They seem to feel just fine along the path anyway since many of them put their nests squarely in the way of visiting footsteps.

Although the primary nesting season is still months away, we saw dozens of baby boobies and frigate birds and some parents sitting on their eggs in their nests.  The red-footed boobies build nests of sticks in the low trees and bushes while Nazca boobies simply lay their eggs on the ground without preparation. 

Frigate bird in the air

Frigate birds also nest in the trees, usually stealing nesting material from one of the booby nests. 

Frigate birds are the thieves of the bird world here.  They get their food by taking it away from the boobies, almost always in mid-flight.  If a booby dives for fish, that motion alone will attract the frigate birds, since they know that a good booby catch is an instant meal for themselves and their offspring.  They also regularly steal nesting sticks from other nests, sometimes causing the baby to crash to the ground in the process, setting it up for certain starvation.

The Galapagos owl is found only on Genovesa Island.  We spotted two today, one far off and almost invisible on the dark lava and the other, inside a deep crack in the lava with plenty of space for a nest.  These owls eat mostly small birds, particularly the Storm Petrol, another abundant species here.

Galapagos OWL 

We snorkeled along the cliffs of Genovesa, home to gorgeously colored fish of many sizes.  The water is quite cold, so we were happy to have long wetsuits and, particularly, to occasionally find a patch of really warm water.  We didn’t swim with any turtles today, though we saw several in the deeper water.  Sea lions were sleeping along the ledges in the cliffs.  A lone Galapagos Shark joined us as it searched for its next meal.

baby ray

This afternoon, we walked along a beach and through a forest of red mangroves.  The trees, cliffs and skies were absolutely filled with birds.  Babies were everywhere in their white fluff.  The beaks of the baby red-footed boobies were just beginning to turn blue like their parents (red-footed boobies have bright blue beaks and bright red feet--quite stunning).  Overhead, the sky was filled with hundreds of birds, boobies trying to make it to their nests with the fish they’d caught while being chased by frigate birds intent on robbing them of their food.

In one shallow lagoon, a baby ray swam just beneath the surface while out in the deeper water, we saw a beautiful Eagle Ray, with all its iridescent blue spots across its back.

Each of these islands has its own species of birds.  Some are the only nesting places in the world for the species that come to the islands to mate and raise their young.  While the whaling and merchant ships nearly exterminated the land tortoises, and did so on many of the islands, the breeding centers are working to find tortoises with some genes from the distinct varieties each island used to host.  Eventually, these tortoises will be repatriated to the home of their ancestors, probably including Genovesa.

Nazca Booby and chick

Because we’re right on the equator, the sun sets rather quickly.  It rises and sets at just about the same time every day.  We have filled the intervening 12 hours with lots of activities, from snorkeling to walking on the islands to (some of us) kayaking.

Cactus finches are plentiful.  It was his observation of the finches, and their differentiated beaks and sizes, that so intrigued Charles Darwin and set him on the path towards his theory of evolution.  In the 1970's and 1980's, scientists studied the 13 varieties of finches in the Galapagos intensively, and wrote about the dramatic "selection events" that demonstrated evolution in several species, based on the environment of that moment in time.  See Jonathan Weiner's fascinating book, The Beak of the Finch, for a lively description of this research.

 

Cactus finch

The birds and beasts of Espaniola Island, Galapagos

baby albatross waiting for its parents to feed it

Espaniola is several hours by boat from Floreana.  Fortunately, our travel is at night so we can spend the entire day at each of the islands we’re visiting.

Espaniola beach at sunset

Espaniola is a flat-topped island, pushed upwards in several major volcanic events that occurred here.  Today, the volcanos on the eastern islands are “extinct”, but Isabela, in the western islands, has several active volcanos, extending the archipelago farther west.  We won’t visit Isabela on this trip, but were there 2 years ago and watched at night as its main volcano, the Wolf Volcano, erupted.

mother and baby sea lions sleeping

There are thousands of birds on Espaniola.  It is the only place where one species of albatrosses nests.  These birds are pelagic, finding their food in the deep ocean, not the shallower shelves and shores.  They can spend 6 months or more flying way out at sea, returning to Espaniola when it is time to mate.  Albatrosses mate for life and spend a lot of time grooming and nuzzling their mates when they get back to Espaniola.  Then, they lay one egg, cared for by both parents.
They share the island with thousands of Nasca Boobies, also with eggs and babies.  We watched some young boobies working hard at mastering their wings and getting ready to fly for the first time.

There are thousands of marine iguanas on this island, so you have to walk carefully to avoid stepping on them.  When it’s warm, they loll on the sand and rocks, often all on top of one another to generate extra warmth.  Then, when they’re hungry, off they crawl at a surprising speed to launch themselves into the ocean where they feed on the algae and mosses covering the rocks.  We watched one iguana that had gone a bit too far out to sea struggling to return to land in the midst of large waves that were pounding the rocks.  We’d see him carried forward by a wave, only to be sent back out by the backwash when the wave hit the rocks.  Eventually, he struggled onto a rock.  It is easy for these reptiles to drown if they can’t get back onto land.

Galapagos Hawk

Espaniola’s sea lions were already giving birth, though the big birth season starts in December.  We saw many baby seals, some sleeping while their mothers went off in search of food. 

baby sea lion waiting for its mom

Others were nursing while still more were merely snuggling against their moms for a little more warmth and security.

Here, too, is where we saw the Galapagos Hawk bring its baby Blue Booby to kill and share with her own babies.  Very sad to watch, but, then, the hawk babies need to eat to survive also.

Lava lizards skitter across the rocks.  Selly crabs, showing off their bright red and yellow colors, thrive on the rocks by the water, often getting deluged by a wave, but clinging to their perches nonetheless.
Espaniola also has several beautiful white sand beaches, clearly not crowded as only 120 people are allowed on the island each day.  The Galapagos National Park Service sets every itinerary of every boat and also the stringent limits on where you can go on each island.  So, the animals are unafraid of humans and no longer molested by them (as the whalers and merchant marines used to do when they stopped in the Galapagos to replenish their water and meat--giant land tortoise--supplies).

This season, there are hundreds of marine turtles in the waters around the islands.  We could see them from our zodiacs as we were heading to snorkel or walk on the islands and some of us got to swim with them (we were thrilled; they ignored us).

marine iguana pile getting warmed up

Lava Lizard

Nasca Booby preparing to fly

Selly Lightfoot Crabs

The fascinating Galapagos--2nd time around

Blue Boobie chick, covered with burrs from the bushes nearby

We arrived in the Galapagos Sunday for our second visit, this time in winter, and with a group.  Our last visit was in June 2015, so a different season entirely.  Birds were mating; babies were hatching; the weather was hot and the water, for snorkeling, warm.

blue footed boobies in habit Floreana

In late September, the weather is cooler, much nicer for our hikes on the islands, but the water is 10 degrees colder, making snorkeling a bit shivery.  Thank goodness our boat (the same one as last time, the 16 passenger Majestic) has long wetsuits to loan us for this season.

giant marine turtle in the waves at Floreana

At this time of year, there are hundreds of marine turtles swimming in the water close to shore or feeding on the rocks just off the rocky promontories of the islands.  We have seen more turtles in 2 days, by far, than we saw in our 2 weeks in the Galapagos before.  One advantage of this time of year.

While the bird life is less abundant on the islands, there are still nesting pairs and babies.  Yesterday morning, on Espaniola Island, we watched a Galapagos Hawk snag a baby Nasca boobie, all fluffy white, kill it and feed it to its own young.  We saw albatrosses, which mate for life, nuzzling each other on the sand along with other albatrosses sitting on nests on the ground.  While one incubates the egg (they lay only 1), the other is out at sea searching for food.  If one of the pair dies before the egg hatches, the sitting mate will abandon the egg in order to feed him or herself and survive.  We saw one abandoned egg, about the size of fist.

Our snorkel today was particularly chilly, but really fun because of 3 sea lions who wanted to play with us near a high cliff.  They swam under and by us, bumping us in hopes we would chase them.  One grabbed our Zodiac with her flipper and kept trying to push it away from us.  They leaped out of the water showing us their skills and skimmed alongside us.  Sea lions are about the same size as seals, but they have external ears, which seals do no have.

sea lion heading to the ocean

Our first day here, we spent the day at Floreana Island, snorkeling twice in the cold water.  The reward was watching huge marine turtles swim just below us along with beautifully colored fish in large schools.   Several people saw a large shark that quickly swam off when he saw them approaching.

young sea lion playing in the waves

Floreana is a nesting area for the marine turtles, as are most of the beaches on these islands.  We could see the large holes the females had dug before depositing 80 to 100 eggs.  In 2 months, the eggs hatch and the babies scramble out of the sand nest, heading for the water.  They try to go at night, but even a dark cloud blocking the sun can make them think it’s time to make a break.  This attracts hundreds of birds eager to feast on these tiny creatures.  Ultimately, only about 5% of them survive their frantic rush to the sea and the months afterward until they gain enough size to be safe.

Marine turtles can live up to 150 years.  I think at least some of the ones we saw today on Espaniola were awaiting nightfall to climb up the dunes and lay their eggs.  Others were enjoying the swim in shallow water where they could feed on the algae that covers the rocks.

Today, we're in Puerto Ayora, the main town on Santa Cruz Island, so I have internet access, but the next post will probably be in about 5 days, when we are once again back in range.

our boat, the 16 passenger Majestic