Friday, December 18, 2009

(Sea) Lions, & Turtles, & Bear(icudda)s...Oh My!

Isla Lobbos & Kicker Rock, Galapagos

Well, we didn't actually see Barracudas, but Sharks, Boobies, or Sea Iguanas doesn't start with a "bear". Today we went on a snorkeling expedition. The first stop was the channel inside of Isla Lobbos where we saw many sea lions both on shore and playing in the water. We swam around with them while they played tag and were VERY cute. There were also sea iguanas who unfortunately had already eaten today, so they were all on the rocks sunning themselves and trying to warm back up after their morning swims. We saw some angel fish, some cool fish with yellow lips, and Mexican Hawk fish, who look like parrot fish with a large bulbous forehead. We then crossed over the bar where we saw a green sea turtle feeding on the grass. We were able to swim along with him for 5-10 minutes from just a few feet away.

We then hopped out of the water and headed over to Kicker Rock, so called because it resembles a foot. It rises from about 100+ foot depths to almost 600 feet high. The boobies nest here and hang out on the shear cliffs (think the cliffs of insanity from "The Princess Bride" which I happen to be reading right now). We ran around the rock in the boat first, then hopped in and swam through the channel between the two rocks. There we saw King Angel fish, some Jacks, and two nice small sharks, each about 4 feet long. The channel was about 50 feet deep, but I was able to get about 35 feet down and could see the sharks quite well. We then headed off around the wall of the smaller rock where we saw some REALLY cool red coral on the wall, another sea turtle swimming along, and some other larger schools of fish.

Back on the boat, we headed to a nice beach for lunch and a few hours of lounging amongst some more sea lions. One even came right up to Martina, our tour organizer who had joined us, and tried to steal her spot in the shade. Overall an amazing day.

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