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Galapagos Day 4 - Whale of a time!
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DAY FOUR
Before we even got in the dingy this morning we had a sea turtle coming to have a quick look - you didn't get to see too much though as they only pop up for a second and dive back under really quickly. We were landing on the beach at James Bay and so had to wade out of the water, almost as soon as we arrived we were treated to the sight of a pair of Galapagos hawks mating on a water tower in front of us.
Maria, our guide, assured us this was quite rare to catch a glimpse of. We certainly felt privileged as they weren't at it for long - bit wham, bam, thank-you ma'am actually. Now James Bay was a little different from the other places we'd visited so far as there were definite signs of human habitation.
This is because an Ecuadorian named Hector Egas set up a salt mining operation here in the 1920s. It ran for about forty years and then became unprofitable, the story goes that when the first tourists arrived here they were greeted by the sight of Mr Egas's last loyal employee who remained on the island awaiting the return of his boss who'd fled when he went bust. Must have been quite an experience bumping into a real life Robinson Crusoe.
As well as the hawks there were lots of other things to spot - Sally Lightfoot Crabs (both the brightly coloured adults and the less conspicuous black juveniles), Brown Pelicans, some more Blue-footed Boobies diving for food, Lava Herons, Yellow Crested Night Herons, American Oyster Catchers, two cute Galapagos Fur Seals lounging in the shade and perhaps most spectacularly we spotted an enormous Manta Ray leaping clear out of the water.
This was an amazing sight and Herman even managed to catch it on camera. Apparently they leap clean out of the ocean in an effort to rid themselves of parasites on their skin. Maria insisted this was good luck, but how much better could it get?
Before we got back in the dingy we also saw a special rock formation, nicknamed Darwin's Toilet, for the flushing sound it makes when the water rushes in and out of the hollows. On the walk back to the beach we saw a couple of bright yellow finches, some Marine Iguanas and Lava Lizards.
We did some snorkeling off the dingy, while I got to see a few things, Jim reckons he saw some eels and Pat thinks she saw a penguin shoot passed her. We got back to the boat and sailed the short distance round the coast to Rabida Island before we stopped for lunch.
As it was Brigitta's birthday, the crew had been busy and blown-up a load of balloons to decorate the dining cabin, Marco had even baked her a cake - it was really delicious and feating again we need a nap before disembarking to explore.
The first thing we noticed about Rabida was that the sand was bright red, we'd spent the last few days walking on black lava and white sand so this was startling different. The vegetation was different too, the island looked very dry. We took the dingy to the shore and we could already spot lots of birds - there was a whole colony of Brown Pelicans nesting in some trees on the beach.
When we went to investigate we saw a canny looking heron staking out one of the nests. We reckon he was trying to distract the sitting bird so he could steal the eggs - he didn't get lucky when we were there anyway. We also saw a pair of American Oyster Catchers sifting through the sand at the water's edge.
We spent about forty minutes walking around the island. Just behind the beach was a bright green saline lake, where apparently you got to see some flamingos sometimes, but there weren't any when we were there. We walked passed some huge Prickly Pear cacti, mangrove trees and something called the Incense Tree as it's bark smells nice when you rub it between your fingers. Hiding in the trees we saw some Yellow Warblers and Galapagos Mockingbirds.
We'd got really hot exploring the interior of the island so we cooled with a snorkel from the beach. We saw lots of marine life including Parrotfish, Damselfish, Sting Rays and a giant Sea Turtle hidden very cleverly on the bottom.
When arrived back on board and had enough time for a shower before we set off for the small island of Pinzon. We weren't getting off there, but the captain suggested we stopped there to have dinner and then continued to Santa Cruz We were all sat on deck chatting and while I was scanning the horizon enjoying the breeze, Jim and Pat were chatting.
Jim was busy telling her how he'd never been lucky enough to see any whales. Now this is spooky - no sooner had he said this than Maria pointed to the waters about a hundred metres from our boat. We all looked in that direction and after a couple of seconds saw the black shape of a large Humpback Whale break the surface. He wasn't up for long but came up twice and Jim managed to get a photo. I think you'll agree he's not going to win Wildlife Photographer of the Year with it though. The light was fading and he was a distance from the boat, but we were all really excited.
We were on such a high - most of us had never seen a whale before and were were all laughing at how strange it was that he just chose to appear when Jim was bemoaning the fact he'd never seen one. We were beginning to believe Maria's assertion that leaping Manta Rays bring good luck.
Well then it just got even more magical. Maria thought she's see something in the distance, this time on the other side of the boat, Jim, Isolde and I walked to the front and scanned the horizon. With the best will in the world we couldn't see anything and had just turned around to walk back to where the captain and other passengers were when he heard this strange noise.
We all looked down into the water right next to our boat and I bet we looked a picture - our mouths were wide open and were were all dumbstruck, because there just two metres below us was a Blue Whale! We didn't know this at the time as it was quite a lot to take in, but we heard him expelling water from his blowhole and saw just a fraction of his enormous back - it was a bluely-grey colour. We didn't see his head or his tail and he was gone before we knew it, but it was really incredible. I certainly had tears in my eyes and I don't think I was the only one. It was the captain, Omar, who told it was a Blue Whale - we couldn't believe it, but he was positive as they have a very distinctive double blowhole. Wow!
From complaining we'd never seen any whales to seeing two in about twenty minutes, including a very rare close-up encounter with a Blue Whale was just amazing and something we will never forget. Maria is in her mid-thirties has lived in the Galapagos all her life and has only seen four Blue Whales, including this one, she said it was the closest sighting she's ever had. It was so cool that she was just as excited as we all were.
Needless to say the high we were on was incredible. We drank champagne with dinner to celebrate Brigitta's birthday and our marvelously lucky cruise!
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