We have a long navigation from Isla Genovesa to the south and Plaza Islas. The morning walk after breakfast was to discover more land iguanas and see how the cactus revegetation on the island was going. Many cacti have been over-eaten by growing iguana population. It takes them hundreds of years to grow as tall as they are here- so it is a slow process.
There is a somewhat incredible sighting on this island for us- we witness an iguana feeding on a petrel. Our guide informs us that this has been suspected for a while but very rarely seen –all he has left behind are the wings. We witness the other iguanas eating the flowers off of some of the vegetation. They do this as not to destroy the whole plant, and thus their food source!
This island also has an interesting geology- where a portion of the island is pushed up limestone which happened in one sudden event. This happened before on another island where fishermen who were in the area when the event occurred reported seeing sea turtles, fish and other species on the pushed up land- they obviously couldn’t believe their eyes!
On Santa Fe Island we have a snorkel off the dinghy in a bay… it is our last snorkel for the trip!!!! NOOOOOOO 🙁 The sea lions might have know this though and we enjoy playing with them one last time. We have a good variety of fish and say goodbye to them.
There is a protected bay with superb clear water and we have a short panga ride here before our wet landing on the beach filled with sea lions. There is no snorkelling here due to the amount of sea lions and the always angry alpha males! We are rewarded in seeing stunning schools of spotted eagle rays and a large black tip reef shark.
The afternoon walk is pleasant and an opportunity to see more land iguanas and birds. It is specifically tailored to trying to spot the only endemic owl to the Galapagos. We strain our eyes for a long time and see nothing! Well we do see petrels- the owl’s favourite meal – but didn’t see any being snatched for lunch.
