Our first landing was Hood Island, the oldest island in the Galapagos chain at 4 million years. The Zodiacs came right into shore where before we even landed we saw Galapagos sea lions playing in the surf, a green turtle and marine iguanas basking on the rocks. One of the first birds we spotted was a male Galapagos hawk (Buteo galapaoensis) who zoomed right over our heads. We then saw the female hawk; both were being harassed by the Hood mockingbird, which is also a scavenger.
Our hike included great sights such as courting Nazca boobies (formerly known as masked boobies), female iguanas digging nests under the boulders and lava lizards all over.
Our snorkeling briefing was interrupted by the call of "Delfines!" Dolphins!! There were more than twenty bottlenose dolphins surrounding the ship and they angled in to ride the bow and do flips off the stern. And all of this was before lunch!!!
