On our first full day of expedition aboard National Geographic Endeavour II, we visited the central part of the Galapagos archipelago.
In the early morning, we went for a hike in a seabird paradise, Seymour Island. An uplifting brought corals, boulders, and rocks to the surface, creating a small and flat island compared to others in the archipelago. In this unique area, we found some species of seabirds nesting. The magnificent frigatebird and the great frigatebird–two of our favorites and the pirates of the sky–have both chosen this island to live and nest. They probably chose this area since the surrounding waters are great fishing spots. We spotted many males with their red pouches fully inflated to attract females. At the same time, the blue-footed boobies were all in love. We saw many couples. Males did their mating dances, giving presents to the females who were starting to nest. It was truly a unique experience to hear the sounds and to see the males dance and perform, all to win the hearts of the females.
After some navigation, we arrived to the island of Rabida. Rabida stands out from the other islands with its red coloration, which results from a large amount of iron. On this red beach, we snorkeled with baby sea lions. Some of our guests spotted whitetip sharks. All the colorful fish amused us.
