Jonathan Aguas, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
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Daily Expedition
Reports
04 Sep 2019
Isabela Island, 9/4/2019, National Geographic Islander
Aboard the
National Geographic Islander
Galápagos
This morning we had both long and short hike options, and in addition, a photo hike with Jonathan. Everyone had delightful outings and got wonderful photos of large colorful land iguanas, giant tortoises of varying sizes, finches, mockingbirds, and yellow warblers. It was a cool, mostly cloudy day, but with some sun the weather was perfect. After the hikes some of us swam with feeding pelicans and a fast-moving penguin before returning to the ship.
As we left Urbina Bay, we spotted whale spouts – again! To our amazement we soon observed at least eight Bryde’s whales, a blue whale and a humpback. Captain Cifuentes nimbly maneuvered National Geographic Islander from whale to whale, and we got some very good looks at them as they were diving to feed and resurfacing for air. It is extremely unusual to find three whale species all feeding together, as we did today!
In the afternoon, we kayaked, snorkeled, hiked and explored via Zodiac at Tagus Cove. Penguins, both darting around us in the water and resting on shore were a highlight for many of us! The golden afternoon light on the barren palo santo trees, the view of Darwin Crater Lake, and the majestic slopes of the volcanoes on northern Isabela were landscape scenes that the hikers will long recall. There is a purity and a peacefulness here – and spectacularly clean air, too! – which is very unique. We are all enjoying ourselves immensely this week in the Galapagos.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, and one of seven children, Lynn grew up in various university towns where her father was a professor of physics. Lynn obtained her B.A. in biology from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, followed by a master’s degree i...
Jonathan was born into one of only a handful of families that reaches back five generations in Galápagos, in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on San Cristobal Island. He first left the islands when he won a highly-coveted scholarship to finish hi...
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We woke up to super calm waters off the northern coastline of Floreana Island. Perfect conditions for a bit of kayaking among the offshore islets near Post Office Bay! Brown pelicans, egrets, green sea turtles, and red, black, and white mangroves…a peaceful environment for an hour or so before breakfast. Some guests went straight to the beach to walk a few yards through saltbushes and found themselves facing the famous “barrel” of Post Office Bay. It’s been over a century since the barrel was first placed here for use by whalers to exchange correspondence and carry back letters of business, or perhaps letters to loved ones. Today, postcards fill the barrel, but the turnover is fast. Each day, some of the postcards are taken for delivery while others are left behind in hopes that someone will continue the tradition and hand-deliver them in the weeks to come. Between breakfast and lunch, we played in or on the water around Champion Islet, just to the northeast of Floreana Island. We didn’t make a landing but explored by Zodiac, including a birdwatching circumnavigation followed by deep-water snorkeling in incredible waters with parrotfish, angelfish, pufferfish, damselfish…all kinds of fish! Sea lions buzzed by, desperate to draw attention and get a reaction out of us, which they did. Squeals and shrieks were heard. After an instructional briefing on iPhone photography and a presentation on Charles Darwin in the afternoon, we went ashore on the main island of Floreana. There has been quite a drought this year and not much rain the previous year either. The land was dry, the vegetation was brittle, and dead leaves were everywhere. But all that is fine for the native and endemic species; after all, they’ve been through this before, over the millennia, and survived. The stress is on the introduced species who depend on higher amounts of freshwater for survival. While their defenses are down and populations are stressed, now is the time to really push for programs to eradicate introduced species. Floreana Island is ready for restoration. The National Park and collaborating NGOs are preparing Floreana to receive native species that were once thought doomed for extinction. Giant tortoises, Floreana mockingbirds, and racer snakes may yet survive and prosper with the help of these organizations. We spent the afternoon following an easy trail from a dark-colored beach of mineral origin and over the isthmus to a white, organic beach where green sea turtles were riding the breakers offshore. The turtles are not quite ready to come ashore and lay eggs, as temperatures are still too low for another month or so. But a great blue heron and frigatebird were checking out the scene, just in case someone tried for an early nesting. It will be a couple months before hatchlings try to race to the ocean in the dark of night. We returned to our base of operations as the sun set low on the horizon. National Geographic Islander II was waiting for us with hot water and the comforts of home.
In the early morning, National Geographic Islander II visited Bartolome Island, one of the most iconic places in the Galapagos Islands. We made it all the way to the top to get panoramic pictures of the pinnacle view. Then we headed back to the ship for breakfast and to get ready for the beach, where we planned to practice with our snorkeling gear for the first time. Afterwards, some of our guests enjoyed deep-water snorkeling, and others took tours in the glass-bottom boat. During the afternoon, we visited Cerro Dragon on Santa Cruz Island to look for land iguanas, and we found them posing for us on the trail. It was an amazing day aboard National Geographic Islander II !
