Smmcdonald
Ecuador
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Nº109
Date: 2018-06-12 - 09:51
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Max Depth: 21.6m Duration: 36mins
Pictures
No pictures for this dive
- Temp: Surf 28°C Bottom 22°C
- Dive type : Recreational, Drift
- Visibility: Average Water: Salt
Specific gear used
- BCD: Scubapro - Nighthawk
- Camera: GoPro - Hero 6
- Computer: Shearwater - Perdix AI
- Fins: Scubapro - Twin Jet
- Gloves:
- Mask: Genesis - Panview
- Regulator: Scubapro - AIR2
- Regulator: Scubapro - MK21/S560
- Wet suit: Henderson - Thermaxx 3mm
- Weights: 7.3 kg
Dive reviews
| Overall review | ||
| Dive difficulty | ||
| Marine life quality |
Recent Divers in Galapagos
Recent Pictures in Galapagos
Dive Shop & Buddies
Dive with William Astudillo Saltos from Explorer Ventures Liveaboard Diving
Dive buddies:
Jennifer McDonald,
Vince Knick,
Johnny Kerr,
Dennis Zullig,
Tracy Newton,
James Shawver,
Cathy Dingman,
John Dingman
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Dive Profile
- 1. Air
- 12L Aluminium 203 → 30 bar
- Average depth: 15.3m
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
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After our first early morning dive, we came aboard for breakfast, then hurriedly put our gear together for our second and last dive of the day. I am liking the 3mm wetsuit, as far as wetsuits go. Still in Punta Carrion, this dive would be slightly shallower, maxing out around 70'. The features of the sea floor here is more rugged than the harbor, as expected, with large boulders covered with barnacles and crevices. The dive itself was much like the first today, with the same conditions and marine life. I remembered the conversations about the nudibranchs and started in earnest looking for them. Not long, I discovered one on top of a large boulder. And then another, and another... Once I spotted one and knew what I was looking for, they seemed to be everywhere. It was fun to look for them. Their tiny bodies were stripped with black and brilliant blue, and contrasted sharply with the boulders, and I spent a large part of this dive discovering them. The species turned out to be the Tambja mullineri, and is endemic to the Galapagos.
What was even more exciting was our first land excursion: we were going to spend the afternoon on an Isla Seymour, a low-slung, flat-topped island just north of Baltra Island. The only climbing needed on this island was to get from the Panga to the top, up a rocky slope about 4m in height. Once we scrambled to the top, we were met with a view quite surreal: A scrub forest of Palo Santo ("holy stick") trees and prickly pear cacti, with boulders strewn across the landscape. These were home to thousands of blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigate birds. On the rocks around the shoreline cliffs were swallow-tail gulls and tropicbirds. There was a trail that made a small loop around the western point of the island, and we were instructed to stay on that path, and 2 meters away from the animals at all times. (Incidentally, many animals were on the path, which we then were instructed to make our way around them giving them a wide berth.) Our naturalist guide was very informative, and necessary: you are not allowed to tour this uninhabited island without one. Along the shoreline, we walked in a relatively open area with sand and tumbled stones to our seaward side, and the trees and other low, colorful succulents to our inward side. Sea lions inhabited the sandy areas and rocks along the coast. A few marine iguanas were perched up on the boulders. At one point, we saw a mother with her nursing pup. We turned inland and were surrounded by blue-footed boobies with their young; some hatchlings with hardly any down, while others appeared to be two-thirds the size of their parents and covered in fluffy white down. Frigate birds were among the trees, several puffed up throat pouches (we learned from our guide that it takes up to six weeks to deflate). The excursion lasted a little over a half-hour and has been the highlight of the trip so far.
Back on the boat, we prepare for the long journey to Wolf Island, about 14 hours if the seas are in our favor.