San cristoble

Thursday 8.8

We began our nighttime run to San Cristoble about midnight... The seas were quieter than 2 nights ago. It is wonderful to wake up in the morning and find a new island stretched out for us to explore. Breakfast at 7AM... Then into landing parties to go ashore... This must be was early sea farers called a desert island... At least during the low summer dry spell. Here we were greeted by dozens...by hundreds of sea iguanas.... They are the exact color of the fresh black basalt rock... They eat a diet of sea lettuce which grows freely on the intertidal rocks. They lie inactive much of the time but are capable of rapid motion both on land and sea. We walked an hour or so until we were at the far windward end of the island. Here we found many Albatross birds and nesting colonies with young fluffy white young waiting for their daily diet of regurgitated fish. Several of the couples were engaged in court ship dances... These can continue for an hour... Finally out at the tip end of land we encountered a blowhole that trapped incoming waves and forced the sea water upward with great force.. creating a great plume of sea water high into the air.

Lunch... Siesta... Then back to the landing skiffs. Wide white coral sand beaches... Outcropping masses of black basalt rock. But we were not alone today...our friends the sea lions were their usual garrulous noisy selves. Making rude sounds, bickering, and complaining... Threatening and affectionate ..all In turns. This serf zone is also a favorite for sea turtles! Standing in one location it was possible to observe several dozen of them cavorting out beyond the zone of breaking waves. The typical size of the turtles was over 18 inches. I am not certain but I think they also eat sea algae...

tonight was great fun with dishes sliding back and forth..Then we discovered a new table activity... The water in the glasses remained nearly lever while the boat rocked many degrees back and forth. For us the table tit looked like it was the water moving.

Europeans ...they came for water from a spring and to gather turtles and iguanas for fresh meat. We came pick up a massive turtle digging in the sand prior to laying eggs. The odds of a sea turtle egg surviving the frigate birds is about 1:1000.

Now we sail on to Santa Cruz Island.

... Siesta... Then back to the landing skiffs. Wide white coral sand beaches... Outcropping masses of black basalt rock. But we were not alone today...our friends the sea lions were their usual garrulous noisy selves. Making rude sounds, bickering, and complaining... Threatening and affectionate ..all In turns. This surf zone is also a favorite for sea turtles! Standing in one location it was possible to observe several dozen of them cavorting out beyond the zone of breaking waves. The typical size of the turtle.

 

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Darwin's animals!

Darwin's animals, white sand and black lava

There is something grand and terrible about a night aboard a boat while undergoing gale wind and wave conditions... The trick is not to fight the motion... but to go along with it and relax.. The wild gyrations took us up and down. side to side, and back and forth. All I can say is, "thank goodness" for the "behind the ear" chemical patch. We woke this morning anchored in a quiet bay overlooking the high stone cliffs of San Cristobal.

Life aboard the boat takes on a daily rhythm. The islands are so varied in geology, climate conditions, and life forms; that it is necessary to travel quite a lot to get a real sense of what is here.

Even in the Galapagos human activity is changing the ecosystem. Land iguanas live by eating cactus alone. The number of iguanas is controlled by large hawks. The ranchers who keep livestock on some of the islands shoot hawks on sight to protect their animals (Not effective... ), with reduced hawks, iguana population increases, and the number of cactus plants each year is being reduced... One island we visited yesterday had virtually no new cactus plants because they were being eaten by the iguanas. Our naturalist guide told us that the cactus and land iguanas may well both become extinct from some islands with in a few decades.

It's curious to me that there are relatively few species of plant and animal life In the Galapagos..Great effort has been made to eliminate all introduced species, that would take valuable resources from the naturally occurring species.

Tuesday morning ...we were in the boats ready for a landing by 7:45AM ..it was a beach with the whitest coral sand and the blackest lava flows imaginable...one species of crab, one type of finches, the salt water iguanas...they were all exactly the black color of the lava. It was great location both to hike and to snorkel. Once more we shared the beach with sea lions,finches,sea iguanas, and various other birds.

 

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Rough crossing, fish, volcanos!

Monday 8.2

We traveled through the night crossing through rough seas to reach our quiet harbor at Bartolome Island. The seasick patch behind the ear worked well to prevent problems...some of our group were not so fortunate. One of my surprises here is to gain an understanding of the vast distances between islands,

We made a dry landing ashore and climbed to the top of the highest mountain... Several lava flows can be seen from the peak.. The age of each flow is evident from the many levels of oxidation... The most recent are deep and shiny black.. Older forms ranged from brown to a weathered grey. The "recent" volcanic origin of the islands makes this a perfect natural laboratory to observe natural selection at work. South American plants and animals have occasionally drifted on log masses or have been carried by fierce winds.. The first organisms found a hostile environment... Volcanic rock and little rain. Over time some simple organisms were able to get a foothold . The surviving offspring of these organisms passed on the traits that most supported survival, and in turn these traits were tested and modified, with the survivors in each generation passing on successful traits to all later generations. The organisms that evolved are unlike any found anywhere on earth... But they are perfectly adapted for life here. An example are the famous Galapagos finches, so finely adapted that different varieties are found on each island!.. Each variety suited to local conditions, and food on that island

Afternoon... A choice...Another "snorkel activity" this time with large sea tack on the boat for lunch -I took one look and said no way Good nap and I was ready to go again.urtles or a walk along the fresh lava sea front... This is a favorite haunt for sea going iguanas, seals, sea coast foraging birds, crabs, small lizards, and an occasional sea turtle. All so tame that you approach them within a few feet. Our group found a nest of sea turtles with 2 baby turtles emerging as we watched. It is hard work to dig out of the sand when you are 3 inches long...as we watched, 2 of them made it to the sea. Sorry to say, patrolling Frigate birds made a good meal this day.

3 pm... We start a day-light trip to our next island. The sea is quite smooth. We were on the look out, but saw nothing of special interest.

A word about our ship mates...our group is speaking 4 languages. We include an Italian family with 3 children, a German couple with 2 teen age kids, a couple of Americans, the Ecuadorian crew, and Judy and I. The children and teen agers all a pleasant addition to our group.

We live in close proximity; it is a very agreeable group.

Monday morning...we spent the night in a quiet cove ...gentle rocking lulled us into long and deep sleep.

Early morning .. A dory ride ashore and we hiked for 90 minutes or so...through the midst of an immense colony of sea lions...some of them were of enormous size ! Here we also found land iguanas well suited to a diet of cactus fruit and cactus"pads". They patiently wait...sometime for many days for food to fall to them.

The north end of the island has steep faced cliffs that drop suddenly to the sea...Constantly crashing waves from the north provide the energy needed for such massive erosion.

Siestas are a very civilized thing to add to cultural life. After a busy morning we have an hour to drop off to sleep and recharge our batteries. Later we were off snorkeling in a location with many playful sea lions... They seemed drawn to us by curiosity and a playful nature. Also several sea turtles were sighted. I had trouble with water collecting in my face mask, and with the large swim fins. It was a real challenge to deal with the situation. ..fortunately the support boat was close at hand...and came to my assistance.And finally today we made a wet beach landing in the midst of a crowd of noisy sea lions ...totally fearless of us! Their cries remind me of the noisy bleating of sheep. This large group were all part of one haram, with one Alpha Male. His life is difficult due the constant threats and fights from challengers. We then walked through a forest of tree cactus looking for land iguanas, snakes, finches and hawks... We were not disappointed . Now another night journey through moderately high waves. New ear patch in place.

 

 

 

 

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Untitled

Sunday ... Bartolome

Off on another trek with a wet landing... To a location rich in seals, a nesting colony for Boobies and Frigate Birds... Also night herons, 2 varieties Sea gulls-black Lava Gulls and black and white Swallow Gulls.

Good nap! Off on another trek with a wet landing... In a location rich in seals, a nesting colony for Boobies and Frigate Birds... Also night herons, 2 varieties Sea gulls-black Lava Gulls and black and white Swallow Gulls. Today is Judy's birthday and it has been a very satisfying day! For dessert tonight a large "tres leches" cake was served with one candle for Judy to share.

We traveled half the night through rough seas to reach our quiet harbor at Bartolome Island. The seasick patch behind the ear works well to prevent problems.

Dry landing ashore and a climb to the top of the highest mountain... Several lava flows can be seen from the peak.. evident from the many levels of oxidation... The most recent deep and shiny black.. Through brown to a weathered grey. The "recent" volcanic origin of the islands make them a perfect natural laboratory for natural selection to occur.... Plants and animals have occasionally drifted on log masses or carried by fierce winds.. the first organisms found an unwelcoming environment... Volcanic rock and little rain. Over time some organisms were able to survive... Those offspring with the traits that most supported survival were passed on to the survivors... After many generations organisms evolved unlike any found else where on earth... But they are perfectly adapted for life here. The famous Galapagos finches are so perfectly adapted that different varieties are found on each island?.. Each suited to local conditions on that island.

Afternoon... Another snorkel with large sea turtles or a walk along the fresh lava sea front... A favorite haunt for small water iguanas, seals, sea coast foraging birds, crabs, small lizards, and an occasional sea turtle.

3pm... We start a day light trip to our next island.

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First impressions

First Impressions of the Galapagos

 

This morning I am thinking of the sounds of the rain forest, the river canoes, and hiking the forest trails... This while standing in a line in the Quito airport that was one of the slowest we have ever experienced. We shared the line with a group of Ecuadorian 5th graders off on a science camp excursion... Ah well, we arrived with enough time and we successfully jumped through all the hoops and now we are now flying west to the Galapagos...

It's now 5: 30 pm... First impressions... Flat black volcanic islands (no more than 30000 years old )... Scrub growth and cactus, adapted for long dry summers and rainy winters. The true character of the place began to emerge at once... We made contact with our boat, the Fragata. Judy saw the first iguana, then 2 seals, then a parade of birds presented themselves. Our first excursion was to take small boats and go ashore on Santa Cruz Island... Here we encountered a parade of organisms... First ghost crabs, who use mucous lined holes in the sand to hide, and Sally light foot crabs -(brilliant red in color), pink flamingos, and the national Geographic moment of the day was to see several hundreds of Blue Footed Boobies bombing together into a school of fish...and of course the famous black sea going iguanas. We snorkeled from a beach and saw many fish.

In the night we travelled to a different island - Genovese. The night time travel travelled through some moderately rough water...Judy and I slept the night being rocked to and fro. We both woke with moderately able stomachs, quite happy to drink coffee and eat breakfast...our motto is - "when in doubt - eat" We went ashore and climbed a rugged pathway to reach the level of the plateau. Here we discovered a land occupied by large nesting Boobies... Curiously absolutely fearless of humans. Red footed Boobies, short eared Owl roost in the trees and Narco Boobies with black or green feet are found on the ground. Also we found flying and nesting Frigate birds. The famous "Darwin's finches"...3 varieties ... That played such a major role in the development of understanding the process of evolution as first understood. The hit of the day was to make two sightings of rare Short Eared owls... Who have adapted to day time feeding on the plentiful Stormy Petrels that sweep through the air like a flock of swallows. One of the most exotic birds is the Red Billed Tropic bird - a Large white bird with 2 long white feathers... Flying out behind the bird.

Thinking that our morning morning was about enough excitement for one day I was delighted to snorkel again along an undersea rock wall... With our gear on we fell backwards out of the small skiff, and drifted along close to the rocks... Unbelievable! I floated above a large school of brightly colored tropical fish - big fish... As they drifted -so did I! So many surprises -such a large density both of numbers of fish and varieties of fish. Below the water fell to a great green depth. The fish I swam with we're fearless and quite happy to share their space with me. Back on the boat for lunch -I took one look and suddenly said "No way"... So I attached a seasick patch behind my ear and waited a few minutes... Miracle!

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