Ecuador Day 7 - Galapagos North Seymour Island and Rabida

They told us that we were on an expedition, not a cruise. And accordingly, they keep us busy. Of course, one is free to opt out of anything one wishes, but everything is so appealing, it’s hard to decide what you’d be willing to miss. 

We had a 6 AM wake-up call, breakfast at 6:30 and began our zodiac transfers to North Seymour Island at 7:30. The 1.2 mile trail we were following was built by the National Park. It was partly along the shore, then returned inland over a boulder-strewn route. For those who didn’t feel up to the hike, the ship offered a zodiac wildlife viewing cruise along the coastline.

We got our first glimpse of blue-footed boobies as we neared the island. They are not born with blue feet, but acquire them from the sardines they eat. Females have darker feet than males, and males who manage to ingest enough sardines to get fairly dark feet are at an advantage in the mating contests. The boobies are famous for their foot display courtship dance  Darker feet means better hunters.and better odds of being around to help raise the chick. 

We encountered sparrow-tailed gulls as soon as we landed. These birds are beautiful in flight, with their forked tails. They have beautiful coloring, as well, though our guide Christian told us those colors manifest only during their mating period. Their nests are extremely crude, similar to penguin nests but with even less finesse. Penguins build a little pile of stones, carefully selecting each one before carrying it to the nest. The sparrow-tailed gull nests looked like a sprinkling of pebbles. 

T

This egg, unfortunately, didn’t make it. As we were returning to the zodiac raft, we noticed it had broken and a sally lightfoot crab was feasting on the innards. 

This little chick was more fortunate. 

The star of the beach walk was, hands down, the sea lion pups. The mothers leave them for a day or two at a time to feed, then return to nurse their pups. They will feed only their own offspring. If the mother doesn’t make it back, the pup will die. The ones we saw didn’t seem distressed. They just waited patiently. 

We’ve been instructed to maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet from wildlife, but there is no rule about about how close the wildlife can come to us. This curious pup waddled over to Greg and prostrated itself in front of him. 

It then came over to me, sniffed my hiking boot, and stared up to check me out. 

This colorful plant is Galapagos carpet weed. It is green during the rainy season, scarlet when it’s dry, and turns orange if it gets extremely dry. 

This young female kept striking yoga-like poses as she dozed on the beach. 

North Seymour is a flat island, unusual for the Galapagos. It has no volcanic cone, but was lifted up from under the sea. As we turned inland, the landscape and wildlife changed. 

Galapagos land iguanas can live up to 70 years old. They are territorial. This one is about 50 years old. Christian said he is nearly always at this same spot, guarding “his” cactus from younger iguanas who might climb the cactus to get at the fruit and tender leaves. He’s gotten too big to climb himself, and waits for fruit and leaves to fall from the plant. 

This big boy has a yellow head, more typical of land iguanas.

Frigate birds were everywhere: soaring overhead, raising young and courting. They have the largest wingspan-to-bodyweight ratio of any bird, and are acrobatic flyers. They are a curious bird - a large seabird that can’t get wet. You see them in trees or bushes, but never on the ground as they are so fragile that they could break a bone on something. Because they can’t fly if wet, they steal food from other seabirds returning to their nests to feed their chicks. They grab the unlucky bird while in flight, dangle it by its wing until it regurgitates and catch the food before it hits the sea. (They can also skim the surface and catch flying fish, but that’s not nearly as interesting.)

The males build nests in bushes and then put on a display to attract a mate. They spend 20 minutes or so puffing up their bright red neck pouch like a party balloon. When a female approaches, he practically vibrates with excitement, banging his bill on his inflated pouch.We saw one do this - it was quite a spectacle. But he had no nest, and probably is doomed to failure. (Christian said he might be young and still getting the hang of the ground rules.). The nests are nearly as fragile as the frigatebird bones, so eggs and chicks sometimes fall through them to the ground. 

The young are able to fly at around 6 months, which is about how long the male sticks around. Even though they can fly, they remain dependent on adult feeding until they are 12-18 months old. The mothers finish the rearing on their own. 

Firgatebird chick. Pretty big but still has down feathers. 

I was pretty excited to see this display. I remember my Dad telling me about it as a child.

Then - back to the ship for a safety drill, a talk about snorkeling procedures, get snorkeling equipment (I brought my own gear but am going to try their shorti wetsuits), lunch, and photography talk.

And then back to the zodiacs for our first snorkeling excursion, on the little island of Rabida south of Santiago. We were taken to a beach where we geared up and could swim a good distance along a volcanic wall (the edge of the island). The water was 69 degrees; the wetsuit was a lifesaver! The water wasn’t super clear, but it was still a good swim. We saw a couple of sea lions, lots of big sea stars, and a variety of fish. 

Yellow-tailed surgeonfish

After the swim, we walked along the beach to watch sea lions roll in the surf, and come ashore to settle in for the night. This mother and very young pup were cuddling up for the night. 

It was a good day in the Galapagos.