We had a birthday on board today, and to celebrate, a pod of pilot whales and dolphins woke us up! After breakfast, we took an hour-long Zodiac ride along the coast of Isabela to find flightless cormorants, playful sea lions, and blue-footed boobies diving for fish. With a quick change into cooler, deep-water snorkeling gear, we donned our wetsuits to explore along the cliffs. We jumped in quickly to spot a sea lion playing with a batfish it had brought up from the deep.
In the afternoon we moved to Fernandina, the youngest island in the archipelago. There we spotted a whale skeleton and a cluster of marine iguanas lounging along the lava flows. We finished the day with a wine tasting, paired with a wonderful view of the volcanoes of the Galápagos.
