23 March – Easter Sunday
6AM: We started our day with a panga ride around North Seymour and encountered one of the cutest animals of the whole trip: Galapagos fur seals! The morning light provided for some really great photos! We returned to Aida Maria at 7AM for a breakfast of cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit and bread.
8AM: Dry landing on North Seymour Island. This island provided us with the opportunity to observe a breeding colony of frigate birds! I loved seeing the frigate birds so close, and especially displaying. Up close you can really appreciate their hooked bills and beautiful iridescent-green feathers that appear black at a distance. With their air sacs inflated, several males spread their wings and wiggled on their nest in hopes of attracting a female that was flying over. There were a few nests that had mated frigate bird pairs raising their young, and a juvenile blue footed boobie also!
9AM: Deep water snorkel around North Seymour Island. We observed hammerheads, white tip reef sharks, Pacific green sea turtle and Galapagos sea lions- including a beach master- fur seals, and lots of fish species. Whew! So many species for a quick 30 minute dip, but the currents were a little stronger than anticipated with less than ideal visibility (especially for all those predator species), so we were soon back in the panga to motor to another location. Again feeling a little weary from travel, I opted to not push it and stayed in the panga for the next snorkel spot. We were near the fur seal colony, so I was entertained by watching them.
10AM: We returned to the Aida Maria for a cruise to Baltra- we were in need of refueling, which took approximately an hour, and traded captains. Our new captain is Diego. Lunch while cruising to Santa Cruz. Dr. Morris was so thoughtful and made us each Easter baskets, filling cups with candy, and hiding more candy around the cabin. In total, she carried about 15lbs. of goodies for us!
2PM: Bachas beach wet landing and hike- we’re getting good at this wet landing thing! Bachas beach had a large brackish lake with foraging flamingos! It was amazing to watch from slightly above the paths the birds took in the water filtering through silt to find plant and animal matter. An old barge that had run aground is where the name Bachas beach is derived from, and it’s remnants are still there. A group of iguanas happened upon a fallen cactus and were feasting upon it- an opportunity that Lindsay and I pounced on to observe and collect data for our research project. Nazca boobies were also observed on this island. We spent a little over an hour swimming and bodysurfing before returning to Aida Maria around 4PM to sail through Itabaca channel. We find a fun spot to jump off of the boat off the Eastern coast of Santa Cruz.
6PM: Dinner, and one of Fabian’s favorite drinks – lime, sugar, ice and light rum. Very refreshing!
NORTH SEYMOUR -swallow-tailed gull -Galapagos sea lion -land iguana -magnificent frigatebird -great frigatebird -lava lizard -fur seal -brown noddy -blue-footed booby -brown pelican
SANTA CRUZ -great flamingo -lava gull -land iguana -marine iguana -Nazca booby -blue footed booby -lava lizard -red-billed tropicbird