G13: Bartolomé and Sombrero Chino (10/3/13 AM and PM)

After our invigorating hike to the summit of Bartolomé and refueling ourselves at breakfast, it was back to the islet for Kathi. I was going to do some deep-water snorkeling, but today we could start from the beach, not over the side of the Zodiac. It was only my second real time snorkeling and I was a little apprehensive, but I am so glad I did it.

We landed at the beach on the north side of the peninsula--the same side where Pinnacle Rock stands--and I snorkeled from the beach all the way around Pinnacle Rock and along the rocky wall almost to the next beach. No photos, obviously, but it was amazing! I swam with schools of fish whose names I have forgotten except for the blue-chinned parrot fish (immature, adults,  and "super males"), king angel fish, and yellow-chinned surgeonfish. There were hundreds of small, silvery striped fish, many chocolate-chip sea stars, and a ray resting on the bottom. Lots of coral and other things I can't identify. But the high point was spotting a Galápagos penquin on the shore, inching closer to the edge, hop by hop. I was with a small group of four other snorkelers at that point, and as we watched, it dove in right at us! I quickly put my face into the water and watched as it swam up to us, then it swerved and sped away. They actually fly in the water, flapping their wings and moving at 25 mph. It was gone in a flash, but I was just thrilled!

This video will give you an idea of what it was like:
Galápago penquin swimming

I then joined Kevin in the glass-bottom boat and we saw many of the same species of fish and other sea creatures. These are views from the glass-bottom boat but I didn't try to take photos through the glass bottom. You can see in the second photo the area where I snorkeled.

During lunch and the early afternoon presentations in the lounge, the ship sailed along the southeast coast of Santiago Island until we reached Sombrero Chino and the Bainbridge Islets. Can you tell which islet is Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat)?

Santiago Island

Yes, this is Sombrero Chino.

Some people chose to deep-water snorkel again, this time along Sombrero Chino, but I didn't. We went out in the Zodiacs and discovered sea lions, Galápagos penquins, and a Galápagos hawk. I know some of the photos are blurry, but keep in mind that we are riding the waves in the Zodiac while trying to zoom in for our photos!

Sally lightfoot crab and what I thought was a small shark, but it was a penguin in the water near the rocks.

Ripe for photo-shop, right? Attach head...

Back to the ship! After dinner we had music by Christian in the lounge. He's a naturalist and the National Geographic photo specialist on our expedition, but also an accomplished musician and singer. His CDs were even available in the Global Market (the ship's shop).