22 March
6AM Today we got up early to explore Bartolome Island by panga. We encountered about 15 individuals from the colony of 40 Galapagos penguins! We also saw blue footed booby, frigatebirds and a great blue heron eating a coronet fish.
7AM Pancake breakfast on Aida Maria
8AM – Dry landing on Bartolome Island and hike up 360 stairs to overlook Pinnacle Rock.
Then we got back on the panga and snorkeled off of it around Bartolome Island- including with the penguins!! There were two on a rock, and they let us approach within a few feet for photos. I also received a sting on my face from some unknown cnidarian. At noon we returned to Aida Maria to clean up and eat lunch- palometa, fruit, cucumbers, broccoli and rice. (Palometa is a large jack fruit that we will continue to eat off of for the remainder of the trip). Several sharks, pelicans and frigates were hanging around the port stern, which I learned is exactly where Edgar throws scraps off the port stern.
1PM: Another wet landing of Bartolome Island for a hike. We saw another (or maybe the same) great blue heron, iguanas, lava lizards, blue footed boobies, crabs and even a peregrine falcon!
2PM: Dry landing in Sullivan Bay Santiago. We hiked on the lava flows and observed interesting lava formations: ropes, burst bubbles, remainders of where trees had been, mollego plants, and lava cactus.
4PM: Return to Aida Maria to cruise to North Seymour Island. When adventuring, it’s important to stay energized, which means keeping up on nutrition and sleep- I opted to take a nap while underway. Half-way through the trip, as we approached Daphne Major, I was woken up because a superpod of Pacific bottlenose dolphins was spotted. I estimated that easily more than 300 animals surrounded our boat at every side, as far as the eye could see, with 15 or more bow riding. They were so close that their whistles of excitement were easily heard through the air, and one juvenile alternated between corkscrewing in the bow wake and then pausing to make eye-contact with us. One in particular had a huge remora fish attached to it, and several animals performed aerial displays- mostly breaching and lob-tailing. This detour meant that we would have to skip a circumnavigation of Daphne Major, but we did observe it from a distance. Our captains then learned of a boat needing a tow from Bartolome to North Seymour, so we returned to help them make the trip.
6PM- Edgar prepared a dinner of chicken, roasted plantain, cauliflower and custard pie. After dinner we reviewed species lists and relaxed on the bow until our 10PM arrival at North Seymour.
BARTOLOME: 84° 79.4% partly cloudy, little wind -small ground finch -great blue heron -peregrine falcon -blue footed booby -Galapagos penguin -brown noddy -lava lizards -marine iguana -Galapagos sea lion -brown pelican -Galapagos sea lion -Galapagos penguin -white-tipped reef shark -chocolate chip sea star -blue sea star -Panamaic sea star -giant damselfish -rainbow wrasse -bluechin parrotfish -azure parrotfish -hieroglyphic hawkfish -king angelfish -barberfish -Panamic sergean major -yellowtail surgeonfish -moorish idol -flag cabrilla -bumphead parrotfish -streamer hogfish -Panamic soldierfish -bullseye pufferfish -diamond stingray -Christmas tree worms -finescale triggerfish
SANTIAGO -lava lizard -lava cactus -mollugo -Pacific bottlenose dolphins