North Seymour and Rabida

An alarm wakes me up at 4:15am…c’mon Mark, time zones! Fast forward to 5:15am and it’s up to the deck to watch the first light hit the Galapagos. After another amazing breakfast I ran down to the cabin to collect my gear. This morning we were heading to North Seymour to do a little birding. This was to be our best opportunity to observe blue-footed boobies and frigate birds…and it didn’t disappoint!

We had a dry landing and were greeted by a welcoming party of swallowtail gulls and a very curious sea lion. To start heading out on our walk, we had to pretty much step over a mother sea lion suckling her rather large pup. You hear about the animals in the Galapagos having no fear of humans, but it’s something to actually witness. Our guides call it ‘ecological naivety.’

We began to explore an island teeming with life from boobies with their young to other boobies going through their courtship displays. We followed the progress of one male as he tried desperately to attract the attention of a female. He was dancing and showing his blue feet and following her every move as she continued to move away. It looked like the tide was turning as she began to respond and check out a nest site, but things 180’d and she took to the sky, only to be followed by her love sick would be suitor. You had to admire his persistence! Other nests had parents under constant harassment from their young, begging for food.

The other big attraction was the frigate birds, the trees were full of young frigate birds in various life stages. The highlight was watching some of the males in the trees, displaying there red pouches to any female or rival male who approached. We saw the precarious nature of life in the Galapagos, with many dead blue-footed booby and frigate bird chicks, as well as some dead sea lions. Food and water aren’t always easy to come by in the Galapagos, in fact the region is undergoing a particularly rough dry patch right now.

Back on the boat we had lunch and then joined one of our naturalists, Socrates, for a talk about the geology of the Galapagos. It was fascinating and I was surprised to learn that there is actually a series of islands stretching back to the mainland that sunk below the surface of the ocean as a result of the plate movements in the region. During this time we cruised to Rabida, an absolutely gorgeous island of red sands due to the iron oxidizing in the rocks. The shore was covered in sea lions, and it was finally time for some deep water snorkeling.

Here’s what it’s like to snorkel in the Galapagos. Check out a handful of green sea turtles as they munch on some algae while swimming through massive schools of fish. Enjoy the occasional white-tip reef shark and stingray going about their business. Last, but not least, spend some time swimming, diving and somersaulting with a young sea lion. What an incredible experience. I’ve been diving and snorkeling in a lot of places, but the Galapagos is special. The cold water currents this time of the year bring a lot of nutrients, leading to a lot of plankton that supports a lot of marine life.

We headed back to the Endeavour, changed and hopped back in the zodiacs to hike around Rabida. We watched some Galapagos mockingbirds hash it out their differences, completely oblivious to our presence and climbed up the hill side for some spectacular views of the very red island. Rabida is a bit of a conservation success story as black rats and goats, which had been introduced by humans, have been eradicated. It’s only a matter of time before the native species begin to fully rebound. Unfortunately it’s already too late for some. There is evidence that Rabida had it’s own species of giant tortoise, but these have been wiped out long ago.

As the sun was setting, I returned to the Endeavour on the last zodiac. We had a couple drinks in the lounge and shared stories from an amazing day. The stories continued over supper and the evening culminated with a photography lesson back in the lounge. Tonight we cross the equator and visit the two youngest islands, Fernandina and Isabella. I’ll be on the lookout for mass congregations of marine iguanas and the Galapagos’ two species of flightless birds, the cormorant and the Galapagos penguin.