Espanola Island

We woke up to rain at Espanola Island but it quickly turned to bright sunshine. Our first activity of the day was snorkelling. I was scheduled to do the deep water version while Marilyn would try out some areas closer to shore and learn how to snorkel. My first snorkelling experience made me wonder why I've waited so long to try it. As soon as we were in the water we started to see schools of colourful fish, starfish, sea lions and a shark! We had been assured that no one on these expeditions had ever been bitten or eaten by a shark! It was fun to try out the new underwater camera too. 

This is one of the naturalists who also did underwater photography.

The sea lions moved really quickly under water. I think I was lucky to get this whole one in the frame!

After we finished the water activities, I was transported to the beach where Marilyn was and we explored a bit more. Most of the time was spent with the sea lions that were all over the beach. During the daylight hours they seem to mostly relax on the sand or rocks. Only the youngest ones seem interested in any kind of activity.

Our other major activity today was a hike at Punta Suarez on Espanola Island. I went on a longer, rockier hike with the photography group and Marilyn went on a less rocky route with the natural history people. In the end, we saw most of the same wildlife but the photographers took longer and had more injuries due to the rock strewn route through scrub land and along the coast. We did see a few more spectacular views such as the coastal cliffs and the giant blowhole. 

These are some scenes and wildlife that we saw on our hikes. The pelicans were found along most of the shore areas. Even though they look clumsy on land, they can soar with the best of the smaller birds. 

This is one of the more colourful marine iguanas. They were everywhere along the coast.

These smaller lava lizards were found scurrying among the rocks. 

Most of the coastline was very rugged and rocky. We were fortunate to see a giant blowhole that erupted with every big wave. 

On this island we saw some of the birds that were studied by Darwin. This is the Nazca Boobie. They were hundreds of them gliding on the updrafts near the sea cliffs.

We also saw some of the smaller birds like this Flycatcher...

... and this Galapagos Mocking Bird.

Just before leaving the island, we walked through a Nazca Boobie rookery and saw many fuzzy young ones. And we were continually fascinated by the close up stares we got from the adults!

We also got our first look at the famous Blue Footed Boobie.