Hey look, a marine iguana!

Day 4 - Isabella Island; Targus Cove, Fernandina Island; Punta Espinoza

We woke in the crater of an old volcano.  The seaward wall has collapsed and the ocean has flooded in. By 6:30 we started climbing the trail that led past another crater, Darwin Crater,  slightly above sea level, but full of seawater nonetheless, thanks to filtration through the basalt.

Darwin crater in the foreground, Fernandina Island on the horizon

At the top of the hike, Wolf crater in the background

A panga ride along the edge of  the crater cliffs revealed penguins, flightless cormorants, bluefooted boobies, a blue grey heron, marine iguanas, sealions.  With the motor puttering quietly, the gentle plash of the bow wave and the smooth slide of the sea it was divine.

Then it was time to get in the water for a snorkel.  The marine life was more abundant here, with some brightly coloured fish and more sea turtles eating the algae.  Flitting through quickly, difficult to spot, were the fishing penguins.  

The highlight was a flightless cormorant fishing underwater, holding his breath for two minutes and chasing little fish under the rocks.  He bobbed right up next to us, close enough to touch.

The flightless cormorants look a little unlikely on land, but underwater they are in their element, swimming so fast with their webbed feet.

The afternoon was spent in fascinated delight on Fernandina Island.  There is nothing quite like going for a walk and having to be careful not to step on the wildlife.  Marine iguanas were feeding on algae in the shallow rocks, then would swim to shore and lie on the hot rocks to warm up again.

Marine iguanas are pretty slow moving on land and tend to lie almost completely motionless.   Every so often they will spit violently; actually they are clearing the salt build up from their nose!  Ben loved taking photos of them as they are very obliging (ie don't care how close you get) and the whole dinosaur look of them.  I wasn't so keen on them until now, when we could see them feeding on the algae underwater and swimming with their tails

Accompanying them were sea turtles, sealions, the odd heron, a hawk in the distance and many Sally Lightfoot crabs. We discovered that the crabs can really jump; we spent quite a while watching them line up to jump the gap below:

The sealions are gorgeous, sleek and liquid eyed.  The calves wait in the shallows whilst mum fishes, calling occassionally in case she has returned without letting them know.  The back flippers are separated, unlike seals, so they can move around on land surprisingly well.

A fur sealion

Back to the Nemo, through a horde of marine iguanas, to set sail immediately, in the vain hope that dolphins or whales will be spotted and to cross the equator twice in the night.