May 5, 2019

May 5, 2019

Overnight our ship sailed to Santa Fe Island. With an early wake up call, we were off the ship before breakfast with a wet landing. We were met on the beach by another group of Sea Lions basking in the sun. One of them was particularly friendly or frisky and came charging up to me. Since Santa Fe is one of the older and smaller islands in the Galapagos, it doesn't capture passing clouds. As a result it is dry and filled with Prickly Pears. Because of grazing by Iguanas and the now extinct Santa Fe Tortoise, the Prickly Pears adapted by growing a tall thick trunk. They now look like Cactus grafted atop a Redwood Tree.

As we hike around the island we spot a number of Santa Fe Iguanas. These terrestrial cactus-eaters are all tan and would fit well in our Tucson desert. Since my specialty is now observing Galapagos animals relieving themselves, we watch two Iguanas do it. Aimee can’t believe the size poop that comes out of these creatures.

Back on the ship for breakfast, we next head out for an hour of snorkeling around the shore. We see lots of colorful fish, and a brief glimpse of a Sea Lion as he shoots by. Particularly striking is the Bluechin Parrotfish. Parrotfish are initially all female and colored green with blue stripes. A few turn into males and develop an almost fluorescent blue sheen.

We return to the ship for lunch and our next shore briefing. Afterwards Aimee and I go to the bridge. Unfortunately, I see nobody steering the boat, so I jump into the Captain’s chair. It is not long before I am chased off; I was informed that Otto Pilot had the helm all under control.

Chastened, Aimee and I lounge on some upper deck chairs enjoying the cool breeze and watching Frigate Birds looking for some hapless Booby to rob. We see some males with their bright red gullets. They inflate these sacs to attract females during courtship. I hope we get to see that.

We have several hours to relax. This is the first time. This has been an action filled trip not meant for the typical older crowd we meet on tours. We were warned when we got on the ship that this was not a vacation cruise, but an expedition cruise. This ship was built to explore Antarctic waters.

After lunch the ship traveled to the Plaza Islands, a double islet off the coast of Santa Cruz Island. We just happened to fly over them on the flight in. In the late afternoon we made a dry landing to the southern islet. It is arid, covered with what looks like Ice plants and Prickly Pear trees. We see a couple Marine Iguanas and lots of bright orange crabs on the shore rocks.

Farther inland we see Land Iguanas. In our circle hike around the island we see dozens of these herbivores munching on the yellow flower of the Ice plants. The males have developed yellow coloration because it is mating season.

The islet slopes upward to a steep rocky cliff. There we find hundreds of Swallow Tail Gulls nesting on the cliff-side. They have beautiful red eyes and orange feet. We watch several Frigates attacking the gulls to steal their catch.

After dinner we again went to the back of the ship to watch Sea Lions feeding. Instead we saw a seething mass of fish swirling in the light from the boat. Meanwhile two Galapagos sharks swam slowly through the group. Every once in a while one of the sharks would sense an opportunity and charge ahead. It didn’t seem any attack was successful.