This morning we visited North Seymour, an island that is the product of uplifted seafloor due to volcanism. Although flat and dry, North Seymour is quite a highlight. The island is home to seabirds like the ever-popular blue-footed booby, which seems to be at the beginning of a new breeding season. Great and magnificent frigates also live on the island, and today, we walked amidst their colonies. In the afternoon, we visited the island of Rabida. The red sandy beach is quite stunning, and we had the opportunity to snorkel amongst endless schools of fish and some Galapagos sea lions. After dinner, our captain navigated along the northeastern coast of Isabela Island. An eruption that began in the early days of January still continues, offering us magnificent views of red glows and incandescent rivers of lava. What a spectacular way to end an amazing first day in the Enchanted Isles!
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 16 Jan 2022
North Seymour & Rabida Islands, 1/16/2022, National Geographic Endeavour II
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II
- Galápagos
Gaby Bohorquez, Naturalist
Gaby was born and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her first job in the Galapagos was on board a 90-passenger cruise ship as the cruise director’s assistant, and she fell under the spell of the Enchanted Isles. She returned to Guayaquil to study at the ...
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This was our first full day of expedition, and we started with a beautiful island in the center of the archipelago. North Seymour is a small, flat island where big colonies of blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds can be found nesting. Mating season has already started. Male frigatebirds displayed inflated red gular pouches, and the blue feet of the boobies were visible in the air. Along the trail, we found the famous Galapagos land iguanas. These reptiles are adapted to eating opuntia cactus, and we spotted one of them taking bites. In the afternoon, we visited a beautiful red sand Island. We practiced our first snorkel and enjoyed observing an abundance of colorful fish and feeding marine iguanas. Later in the afternoon, we took a relaxing stroll along the beautiful beach with the last rays of sun making the red sand shine. Flamingos spotted in a lagoon were the golden finale of this amazing day.
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Genovesa Island
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