Española Island
Today we had a wonderful day on the island of Española. In the morning we visited the eastern corner, Punta Suarez, and walked among many different kinds of birds such as the endemic waved albatross (including chicks!), courting and mating blue footed-boobies, warbler finches and elegant Nazca boobies. During lunch we lifted anchor and repositioned to the west of Española, a place named Gardner bay, where we had mainly water activities. We had a couple of different options for snorkelers and glass bottom boat outings for those who wished to explore the marine world whilst staying dry! This bay sports a spectacular white organic beach, where we found several sea lions sleeping and seemingly waiting for our guests to play with. The true highlight however was the females with their new-born pups, a sight common at this time of year.
The species composing the Galapagos marine fauna are of varied origins, and some of the most ubiquitous are the parrotfish. They are found all along the coral formations, especially in warm waters, but they have adapted to cold waters as well. This beautiful fish varies greatly both in colors and sizes. Worldwide there are 10 genera and about 80 species of scarids (parrotfish family). There are seven species of parrotfish recorded in the eastern Pacific, six occur in Galapagos and the biggest among them all is the one that is shown in the picture (bump-headed parrotfish).
Today we had a wonderful day on the island of Española. In the morning we visited the eastern corner, Punta Suarez, and walked among many different kinds of birds such as the endemic waved albatross (including chicks!), courting and mating blue footed-boobies, warbler finches and elegant Nazca boobies. During lunch we lifted anchor and repositioned to the west of Española, a place named Gardner bay, where we had mainly water activities. We had a couple of different options for snorkelers and glass bottom boat outings for those who wished to explore the marine world whilst staying dry! This bay sports a spectacular white organic beach, where we found several sea lions sleeping and seemingly waiting for our guests to play with. The true highlight however was the females with their new-born pups, a sight common at this time of year.
The species composing the Galapagos marine fauna are of varied origins, and some of the most ubiquitous are the parrotfish. They are found all along the coral formations, especially in warm waters, but they have adapted to cold waters as well. This beautiful fish varies greatly both in colors and sizes. Worldwide there are 10 genera and about 80 species of scarids (parrotfish family). There are seven species of parrotfish recorded in the eastern Pacific, six occur in Galapagos and the biggest among them all is the one that is shown in the picture (bump-headed parrotfish).
