Swimming with sea lions, turtles and sharks

Serendipity
David Caukill
Fri 17 Feb 2012 17:42

Thursday 16th Feb:  Wreck Bay, San Cristobal, Galapagos 00 53.7S  89 36.8W     

Update blog by Peter

 

Well we finally made the finish line and anchored just before dark on Tuesday evening.  Disappointingly needed to motor in for the last 24 hours and now wait to see how we did overall.  Most of the boats needed to do an awful lot of motoring which makes progress checking for you (and us) difficult especially as the motoring penalty factor is only decided after the THIS IS NOT A race.  Then came the rain which we had successfully dodged for the last week.  Shortly after that our first sea-lion (Sally) visited the sugar scoop (the water level platform at the stern).  We had vaguely wondered why a lot of boats had roped off there boarding means, now we know.  Steak dinner and red wine, the traditional end of passage meal, was enjoyed on board by all – just as well it was not my turn to cook.  Meanwhile Sally’s mate came to share her bed and after much barking both fell off and disappeared.

 

Wednesday morning officialdom came aboard to clear us into the Galapagos.  Seven persons in total + agent between them covering Immigration, Navy, Police, Ministry of Fish and Ag ….  Only casualty was the oranges which we were permitted to turn into juice before giving up the peel.   At least it only took about half an hour. After that we were free to go ashore to check out the facilities of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, capital of the Galapagos.

 

Now begins the geography / history lesson….

 

The Galapagos islands sitting on the equator 700 miles of the coast of Equador lie on the boundary of three tectonic plates and came into existence by volcanic action 3 million years ago.  There are still active volcanoes on the island of Isabella, the locals claim the most active in the world – Iceland eat your heart out.  There are 13 major islands and many smaller ones, mostly uninhabited (at least by humans).  Even the major islands were not inhabited until the Europeans came to this part of the world in the early 19th century.  Furthermore the islands have never been connected to (or close to any mainland) and the wildlife species have developed without outside influence.  In 1835 Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution after visiting the Galapagos and studying how finches had developed different shapes of beaks depending on their food source.

 

Pirates used the islands as their base but several attempts at colonisation failed until the 20th century when a foothold was established via a penal colony.  Today the population is around 20,000 who cater for up to 150,000 visitors per year.  A lot of effort has been made to protect the wildlife, much of which is indigenous. It is all one big National Park where one is charged $100 US each time one enters.  There are however a lot of local grumbles that only a small portion of this benefits the Galapagos with the remainder going to the Equadorian general finance bucket.  Our cruising permit allows us to visit only four anchorages – here (Wreck Bay), Floreana, Isabella and Santa Cruz (Academy Bay).  One then needs  to do local tours.  Most places have three names – local, English and Spanish which often makes discussion of where one has been or is going very confusing.

 

End of lesson …

 

Thursday we did our first tour – boat trip to kicker rock with stops for snorkelling, and beach visiting.

 

Kicker Rock from afar

 

But first our boat with three 200 HP engines on the back circumnavigated “Five Fingers Rock”

 

 

Then a stop at Islas Lobos (Sea lion island) for a drift snorkel (where you get in at one point, drift with the current and the boat collects you at the far end – much less strenuous than returning to the start).  No pictures as none of us have underwater cameras but sea-life included sea-lions, rays and a turtle munching happily on some algae totally oblivious of 16 goggles peering closely at him.

 

Then on to Kicker Rock, with a circumnavigation to check (and get wrong!) the currents.  Boobies and Frigate birds were plentiful. The white furry blob in the picture is a youngster.

 

 

“Shark Alley” was next with a drift snorkel (both ways!) through the gap in the rock.  Black tipped, white tipped and hammerhead sharks were the selection.  Visibility wasn’t wonderful but the three I saw were pleasingly not at my depth and going in the opposite direction!

 

 

After all the swimming it was a stop for lunch at a bay on the mainland, idyllic to look at but populated by a variety of biting horse (?) flies.

 

 

Finally back to Serendipity where Sally’s daughter had joined us on the sugar scoop.

 

 

Fascinating place.  Until the next episode ….