Floreana Island
The sky was cloudy early this morning when I got up before dawn, but with enough holes to know there would be sun shining later on for the snorkelers. First things first, however, and as the Polaris sat anchored in Post Office Bay, off the northern coast of Floreana Island, Zodiacs were sent off to check the mail barrel and cruise the nearby rocky islets and lagoons. The early birds hit it lucky with a sighting of about eight Galapagos penguins fishing, and on top of it got to mail postcards at the famous barrel site of 1790’s fame. Meanwhile, others on the teak deck of the Polaris spotted something on the surface. The first shiny lump floating high off the sea surface turned out to be Pacific green sea turtles in an amorous embrace. But behind them and much further away, a female humpback and calf were identified slowly making their way east, smaller blow following larger blow. We had hopes that once away from the anchorage we would be able to catch up to them, but they had disappeared in the great blue depths that surround these isolated and practically untouched islands.
The rest of the morning was fabulous, in that the snorkelers and glass bottom boaters saw fish galore…but the sea lions! Oh, the sea lions. Why have I been here working in the islands for so many years? Why can’t I leave? I could almost exclusively blame my circumstance on the younger sea lions, who I call the “teenagers.” Just a few of us went around the island of Champion and into a bay, where first-time “deep-water” snorkelers could get a feel for it before moving out into even deeper water. At once we had a bevy of teenaged sea lions between the ages of around four months to two years old. They were excited. They were thrilled. They were playing with a big yellow prickly pear cactus fruit. They were playing with us. Am I speaking of the sea lions or us? Both, actually. At times I spun around and saw wet fur and sleek bodies, black eyes and streaming whiskers. They were all around us, with the occasional pink mouth and bubbles streaming from the ears…yes, the ears. Weird. These circumstances don’t occur every time we visit Champion, but today was incredibly special.
The afternoon exhibited strong colors. Vivid black and white stilts with long red legs, salmon pink flamingos drawing a curlicue design in the muddy bottom of a shallow lagoon. Stark white trunks of Palo Santo trees against dark receding ground as the glowing sun set.
The sky was cloudy early this morning when I got up before dawn, but with enough holes to know there would be sun shining later on for the snorkelers. First things first, however, and as the Polaris sat anchored in Post Office Bay, off the northern coast of Floreana Island, Zodiacs were sent off to check the mail barrel and cruise the nearby rocky islets and lagoons. The early birds hit it lucky with a sighting of about eight Galapagos penguins fishing, and on top of it got to mail postcards at the famous barrel site of 1790’s fame. Meanwhile, others on the teak deck of the Polaris spotted something on the surface. The first shiny lump floating high off the sea surface turned out to be Pacific green sea turtles in an amorous embrace. But behind them and much further away, a female humpback and calf were identified slowly making their way east, smaller blow following larger blow. We had hopes that once away from the anchorage we would be able to catch up to them, but they had disappeared in the great blue depths that surround these isolated and practically untouched islands.
The rest of the morning was fabulous, in that the snorkelers and glass bottom boaters saw fish galore…but the sea lions! Oh, the sea lions. Why have I been here working in the islands for so many years? Why can’t I leave? I could almost exclusively blame my circumstance on the younger sea lions, who I call the “teenagers.” Just a few of us went around the island of Champion and into a bay, where first-time “deep-water” snorkelers could get a feel for it before moving out into even deeper water. At once we had a bevy of teenaged sea lions between the ages of around four months to two years old. They were excited. They were thrilled. They were playing with a big yellow prickly pear cactus fruit. They were playing with us. Am I speaking of the sea lions or us? Both, actually. At times I spun around and saw wet fur and sleek bodies, black eyes and streaming whiskers. They were all around us, with the occasional pink mouth and bubbles streaming from the ears…yes, the ears. Weird. These circumstances don’t occur every time we visit Champion, but today was incredibly special.
The afternoon exhibited strong colors. Vivid black and white stilts with long red legs, salmon pink flamingos drawing a curlicue design in the muddy bottom of a shallow lagoon. Stark white trunks of Palo Santo trees against dark receding ground as the glowing sun set.
