We began this day dedicated to fathers in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Gardner Bay. Looking out at the turquoise waters that surrounded our floating home, we were excited to explore the undersea realm. Playful sea lions swam quickly and gracefully among the schools of surgeonfish, appearing to accept us as their curious playmates. We eventually landed on a blindingly white coralline beach, where we found hundreds of resting sea lions and Española mockingbirds searching for their daily sustenance, some of them even landing on us. The afternoon brought us even closer to the wildlife as we navigated between marine iguanas warming themselves on the volcanic rocks. Darwin finches flitted about as we continued our walk, encountering endemic lava lizards and a racer snake sunning upon the path. Arriving to the southern cliffs of Española we were surrounded by a large colony of waved albatross. It was incredible to think that this species is endemic not only to Galapagos, but to this specific island. As we returned to our ship, bright sun poked through the darkening clouds and a few Galapagos hawks watched as we leave this incredible place.
10/3/2024
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National Geographic Endeavour II
Bartholomew Island and Sombrero Chino
We split into groups for different excursions this morning. Four groups went up the staircase to the top for the iconic view over the isthmus of Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock. We walked past exposed volcanic formations of all sorts: spatter cones, tuff cones, and lava tubes. Two other groups chose to explore along the coast by Zodiac in hopes of Galapagos penguin sightings. All of us were successful in what we hoped for and even the walkers saw penguins near the dock where we disembarked! Both snorkeling off the beach and deep-water outings along the backside of the island were tremendously productive because we saw it all: penguins and sharks being the top species, and diving blue-footed boobies too! The afternoon had National Geographic Endeavour II anchored not too far south, off the coast of Santiago Island near Sombrero Chino. A dramatically barren, small volcanic cone where another snorkeling outing was offered and late-afternoon Zodiac rides to search yet one more time for penguins. We can never get enough of them!