Galapagos Trip 2023 -- Day 4 -- Rabida Island (part 2)

We took a very short break after our hike on Rabida Island, then were off again.  This time we were off for a trip on the glass bottom boat to explore the underwater world near the island. This would be on the peninsula on the northeast corner of the island, the same peninsula as the hike earlier in the morning

Aerial photo showing gps track of our glass bottom boat exploration along the coast of Rabida Island.  The track on land in the lower left hand corner is from our hike earlier in the morning (previous post).

We took a panga to the west side of the peninsula where we transitioned to the glass bottom boat that was already in place. 

Taking pictures from the glass bottom boat.  The water seemed clearer than what we saw on our last glass bottom boat adventure.   It seemed that usable pictures would be a bit more attainable  I also had developed a different camera technique which helped tremendously.  Rather than watching for something then aiming the camera and trying to take a shot, I continuously watched through the viewfinder of the camera.  That gave me at least a fighting chance of catching something "on film". With both the fish and the boat moving, anything of interest was visible through the window for mere seconds

After some darkening and other minor processing at home, at least some of the pictures were good enough,to identify critters with iNaturalist.   However, I should be completely clear that these pictures pale in comparison to the beautiful video shot underwater with a GoPro by the UnCruise guide that accompanied our cruise as a guest. If he grants permission, I will include that video in the wrap-up post I plan to do at the end of all of these individual adventure posts. Stayed tuned.

Coral and sea urchins.  The first things we saw that might be of interest looked like white rocks (see the picture below), but may have been coral.  There is actually very little coral currently in Galapagos.  At least 95% of the coral was lost, primarily due to the extreme 1982-83 and 1997-98 El Nino events. Restoration efforts and more research is under way,.  It is not clear if the coral will return and, if so, how long it will take.  Different types of coral grow at dramatically different rates.

It looks like white rock but it may be coral, probably Pavona gigantea

We also saw sea urchins in multiple places, often with the coral.  In the picture below they are the little vegetation-like clusters.  We could often see lots of little fish, but I have forgotten what the guide told us they were. 

Lots of little fish, pencil sea urchins in the center on the left, some of the white Pavona gigantea coral on the right, with maybe a fish (brosnish color) on the right just below the coral

We actually saw at least two types of sea urchins.  Most were Galapagos Slate Pencil Urchins.

Galapagos Slate Pencil Urchins

Near the end of the trip on the east side of the peninsula we saw some white sea urchins sometimes called Sea Eggs.  They are the largest sea urchin species in the Galápagos Islands with a mean diameter of 4.5 in.

Sea Eggs

Many different fish. We saw a variety of different fish, but usually only one or two at a time.  This fish hiding down in a crack is a Panamic Fanged Blenny.  According to iNaturalist they wedge themselves into crevices near the shore.  That seems to be what he is doing here.

Panamic Fanged Blenny

We also saw a King Angelfish, although it looks a bit strange looking at it from above rather than from the side.

 

King Angelfish from above

We also saw what I thought was a parrotfish, but since it has not been confirmed on iNaturalist I am not sure.  In any case, it was pretty. 

Maybe a parrotfish

Mexican Hogfish.  One of the stranger fish we encountered was the Mexican hogfish.  Even though the fish in the next two pictures are dramatically different, they are both Mexican hogfish.  The variation can be even more dramatic than these pictures imply. 

First of all, the really weird thing is that Mexican hogfish start life as a female and later become a functional male.  

In the initial (female) phase, Mexican hogfish are reddish, grading to yellow on the posterior part of the body and the caudal fin. They have a pair of blackish stripes (may be broken) on the upper half of the side.  

In the terminal (male) phase, they are bluish green with a brown head (except for a white lower jaw) and a narrow yellowish bar on the middle of the side. 

Juveniles are similar to initial phase but with a yellow base color.  This website has better pictures of the various stages with their true colors.

 

Mexican hogfish, either a juvenile or female

 

Mexican hogfish, male

Surgeonfish.  By far the most common fish we saw and the only one (except for the really little fish) that we saw in larger groups or schools were surgeonfish.

A school of Surgeonfish

A better look at the Surgeonfish's markings

The Surgeonfish get their name from the scalpel  sharp spine in their tail meant to discourage predators. Even sea lions pnly eat them head-first to avoid hurting themselves on these spines

Sea stars.  We also saw what I would have called starfsih, but are probably more properly called sea stars.  One seemed large, but I could not tell much about any markings and therefore could not identify it.

Unidentified Sea Star

One I could identify even without looking it up was the Chocolate Chip Sea Star.  I was intrigued with seeing one ever since they showed it to us in one of the before dinner talks. I had been on the lookout and was glad I got a picture.

Chocolate Chip Sea Stars

Sea Turtle.  One of the more exciting captures was this picture the Frog got of a Green See Turtle. We had encountered them multiple places, but usually only all we saw was their head briefly sticking above water.  Unfortunately the glare on the window was at the wrong place at that moment, but it is still easy to see what it is.

Green Sea Turtle

Above the water critters.  Although there were not many, we did see a few things above the water.  They were all birds, perhaps due to the very steep rock walls. 

On the west  side we saw a brown noddy

Brown Noddy

and something new for us, a Lava Heron.

Lava Heron

Finally, among the last things we saw on the east side were some of the ubiquitous blue-footed boobies.

Blue-footed boobies on a ledge just above the water

Yet another blue-footed booby

Houston (uh, I mean La Pinta) we have a problem.  It was about this time that things became interesting in a different way.  The motor on the glass bottom boat stopped and the driver could not get it restarted.

Hmmm, maybe out of gas.  He hooked it up to the backup gas tank.  When he tried again the engine started to catch, but then would not start.

They got a panga out to us from the ship and we all scrambled aboard.  Fortunately the sea was relatively calm.  We had not needed the motor (yet) to keep the boat from being thrown against the rocks.

All this time the driver was trying without success to get the motor started.  We started to pull away in the panga, when several  of us got worried for the driver that we were leaving behind.  "We can't just leave him."  "Can we tow him?"  

After some discussion between the guide and the panga driver (in Spanish. of course) we went back to the glass bottom boat.  After more discussion, they were able to get a line across from the boat to the panga and pull the boat at least a little away from the rocks.

Then they got the rope attached to the back of the panga and we started back with the glass-bottom boat in tow.

The motor eventually started and we unhooked the tow line.  Much later, after we had returned to the ship, gone to our room, and finally come back up to the rear deck for something cold to drink, we saw the glass bottom boat driver return.  He did not look happy, but we were glad to see that he made it back safely.

Snorkeling.  While we were "dry snorkeling", everyone else was snorkeling for real.  I don't know exactly where they went, but when we were cooling down on the rear deck with a cold drink we saw them start to approach from somewhere to the west.

Pangas returning with the snorkelers.  There are three pangas, the two in the center and one barely visible to the far left barely below the black line at the edge of the coast.

Number 3 panga getting closer

Everybody looks wet but happy

Afternoon activities.  After everyone was onboard, the ship weighed anchor about 11:30 am..  We arrived at our next destination, the northwest corner of Santa Cruz Island, about 2 pm.  

The schedule says the afternoon activity was hiking the Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) Trail, so named for all of the land iguanas.  We did not go.  I cannot remember why since that should have been an easy hike.  Maybe they said something at the briefing the day before that gave us pause or maybe there was some other reason.  I just don't remember.  In any case, we stayed onboard, did laundry, and generally got ready for the big day tomorrow.  That would be a trip to the town of Puerto Ayora to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center, followed by a trip to the highlands to see giant tortoises.

Galapagos Trip 2023 -- Day 4 -- Rabida Island (part 1)

It was only Day 4 of our grand Galapagos Adventure, but we had already seen so much.  Next up was something a bit different than what we had seen before.  We were visiting Rabida Island, the red island.

The Frog on Rabida Island's red sand beach.  La Pinta is in the distance.

It is a long trip around the northern edge of Isabela Island to Rabida Island from the location of Day 3's afternoon adventure at Tagus Cove.  The ship left Tagus Cove about 9 pm.  It was in the vicinity of the equator about midnight, but did not make it to Rabida Island until about 6:30 the following morning.

The gps track for Day 3 is yellow.  The gps track for at least the first part of Day 4 is blue

Rabida Island.  Rabida Island  is a very small uninhabited island, less than 2 square miles, located about 3 miles south of Santiago Island.  Most of the island is inaccessible from the ocean due to vertical rock walls except for a beach on the northeast side.

The plan for the early morning adventure  was to hike the approximately 1 mile loop trail on the small peninsula on the northeast corner of the island.

North edge of Rabida Island.  La Pinta's anchorage location is the squiggle of lines in the upper left hand corner.  The more southerly land track is the gps track for our early morning hike.  The point along that track on the ridge marked by a brown chest and labeled GCCF97 is the geocache.  The more northerly water track is the gps track for our panga and glass bottom boat adventure later in the morning, the subject of the next post.

Rabida Island's Red Beach.  The wet landing on the beach was much more like what I had expected wet landings to be like.  There were minimal waves rolling onto a gently sloping sandy beach. 

The color of the beach and indeed the color of all of the soil on the island was incredible.  Even though I knew this was the "red island", I was surprised by how really red everything was. The color is due to the very high content of iron in the soil which has oxidized, i.e. rusted, to make this color.

The guides had described the trail as a very easy, so we decided to try hiking in our Keen sandals rather than switching to hiking boots.  Most of the trail was in fact wide and flat.  However, there is a 95 foot elevation gain (at least according to AllTrails) between the beach and a flat trail on top of the ridge.  The guides had failed to mention the boulders we had to climb up and down between the two levels, but we made it.

We landed at the far east edge of the beach and walked west.  We did not see any of the sea lions that supposedly live here.  I suspect they may have been further to the west around the edge of a large hill.  We did see some ghost crabs.  They were only above the sand for a brief moment before darting back into their hole.

Painted Ghost Crab

We also saw what looked like turtle tracks, probably a female going down towards the water overnight to lay her eggs, but no actual turtles.

Turtle tracks?

Saltwater Lagoon.  We eventually came to a trail through the very thick shrubs that lined the back of the beach and headed inland.  Once through the shrubs, we were suddenly in a large opening with what turned out to be a saltwater lagoon surrounded on the backside by a grove of mangroves.

View of the beach and west end of the lagoon from the top of the ridge.  Note the heavy growth of shrubs between the beach and the lagoon area.  Gwen, Paul, and James's group (I think) is near the lagoon looking at some flamingos that are at the west end of the lagoon.

The area in and around the lagoon was teeming with activity from multiple types of birds.

Flamingos.  Most notable were what I would call pink flamingos but are more correctly American Flamingos, the same flamingos found in the Caribbean.  There were several groups wading through the shallow lagoon and feeding.

Flamingos feeding in the saltwater lagoon

 

More flamingos

They have the unusual way of feeding with their head upside down.  They rapidly pump water with their  tongue through fine keratin blades that act as a strainer to filter out  small invertebrates and algae.

We were very happy to see the flamingos  since they are not always here.  They tend to fly between the islands depending upon the amount of food at various sites. 

I also saw one bird on the far bank that looked like it might be sitting on a nest.  

Flamingos on the far side of the lagoon with one possibly on a nest?

However I am not sure about the nest, since the book Galapagos Big 15, put together and given to us by Metropolitan Touring, said the following about flamingos on page 22:

Nesting behavior was observed on Rabida Island until 1997 but stopped after heavy El Nino rains altered the lagoon.

It is possible these birds hadn't gotten the memo and the info in the book is outdated since multiple sources online indicate flamingos don't even visit this lagoon on Rabida any longer.

Misc other birds.  We also saw a variety of other birds including a White-cheeked Pintail

White-cheeked Pintail

and an American Oystercatcher

American Oystercatcher

We even saw several Galapagos Doves hiding in the mangroves, but we got much better pictures later on the hike.

Feisty mockingbirds.  The most notable small birds were the mockingbirds.  They seemed to be everywhere.  They looked similar enough to the ones we have in Texas that they were readily recognizable, but there is something about the markings on their face that make them look angry to me.  I also never heard them make any sound, unlike noisy Texas mockingbirds.  These were Galapagos Mockingbirds, one of four endemic mockingbird species in Galapagos.

Galapagos Mockingbird with some kind of worm

Every one of the books I have about Galapagos wildlife talks about how territorial these guys are.  Led by an alpha male, they tend to form groups of adults and grown offspring that will threaten and even openly fight other birds that invade their territory.

I did not know about any of this at the time, but I did see several that were clearly having some type of dispute.  The Frog got a couple of pictures of what appeared to be one individual in the foreground holding up his tail in what one source referred to as part of the flick fighting posture.

 

Bird in the foreground seems to enter the scene, and the one in front of the stick is not happy about it.

 

The bird in the back ducks down,while the two birds in the center look like they might square off.

I tried to get a video of the event.  There had been some flapping of wingst, but I only caught about one second of the end of the altercation.  Below is that video slowed to half speed so I could see what happened.  

Rather than the two in the front fighting, the one in the back suddenly took off and the "intruder" followed.  I don't begin to understand what happened, but it appears the mockingbird left standing doesn't understand either.  Based on the pictures on this webpage it could have been an all out battle.

 One thing is for sure, these birds were definitely not afraid of people. 

Not sure whether this one was curious or trying to defend his territory, but he was not afraid of any of us.

On with the hike.  It was fun watching all of this at the lagoon, but there was more to see up ahead so off we went.

Starting down the trail with the first of many prickly pear.  The ridge where we would eventually hike on top is straight ahead.

Lots of Prickly Pear.  There was lots of green on the island, consistent with this being near the end of the rainy season. However, it was still clear this is a very arid region.  We immediately began encountering prickly pear cactus.  

Being from Texas, we have certainly seen prickly pear cactus before, but prickly pear in Galapagos are noticeably different.  There are over 200 species of prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia).  Six of the species (with 14 different varieties), only grow in Galapagos.  

I am not a biologist, so I am confused about some sources referring to the prickly pears in Galapagos as separate species while other sources seem to suggest that some of those species are now considered only variants within a species.  

Whatever the taxonomy works out to be, it is definitely true that any particular type of prickly pear growing in Galapagos tends to be located only on a small subset of the islands.  For example, Opuntia galapageia var. zacana was the type we saw on North Seymour on Day 1   

Opuntia galapageia var. profusa is the type of prickly pear on Rabida.  Depending on the source it is thought to be only on Rabida or possibly also on Isabela and Santiago.  It tends to be shrubby with soft waxy spines and, as we noticed while hiking, can produce an extraordinary number of fruits (up to 82!)  on each pad.

 

Compared to Texas prickly pear, all of the fruits on a single pad look really strange

The cacti grow this way, at least according to one theory, because there have never been populations of tortoises or land iguanas on Rabida to feed on them.

More critters.  We encountered a lot of different birds, including both a small ground finch and our first common cactus finch. 

 

Small ground finch in a palo santo (incense) tree.

 

Common cactus finch

There are no land iguanas here, but we did see several lava lizards, in this case our first Santiago Lava Lizards.  These are a different species of lava lizard than what we had seen elsewhere (Isabela Lava Lizard and Santa Cruz Lava Lizard).  I am so glad I have iNaturalist to help me sort all of this out.

 

Santiago Lava Lizard

Once on top of the ridge, there were great views looking back along the east side of the peninsula.

Looking south on the east side of the peninsula

 

Closer look of the landslide in the distance. More prickly pear in the foreground, with lots of palo santo trees on the hillside.  Interesting that that the rocks near the water in the foreground are black, not red.

 

Galapagos Doves  As usual we were at the back of the pack taking pictures.  As we hurried to catch up we came to a traffic jam with everyone looking at the cactus.  What were they looking at?

Traffic jam of two different groups around the cactus

A Galapagos Dove was sitting on a nest in the center of the cactus.

Galapagos Dove on a nest in the crook of the arms of the cactus

Galapagos Doves clearly look like their Texas cousins, but are much more colorful.  This is the one species of dove that exists throughout Galapagos, but they are common only on islands where introduced cats are absent.

Galapagos Dove

Galapagos Hawk.   After taking pictures of the dove on the nest I was again behind most of the group.  They had found something else of interest.  What did they see?

Our guide pointing something out on the rocks above

OK, I see it

There was a Galapagos hawk posing for us on a rock just above our heads.  It still amazes me how all of these various animals have no concern about a crowd of people nearby.

Galapagos Hawks are the top terrestrial predator in Galapagos, living in a range of environments and eating a variety of small birds, lizards, snakes, insects, etc.

Galapagos Hawk watching us from the rocks just above our head.

Interestingly, at least to me, their ancestors were likely the Swainson's Hawk of North America.  We often see large numbers of Swainson's Hawks twice a year at LLELA as they migrate between South America and the western U.S. and/or Canada.

 

Range of Swainson's Hawks. Orange is breeding, yellow is migration, blue is nonbreeding.  Clearly some of Texas east of the orange area should be yellow.  (All About Birds)

Lots more prickly pear.  The trail back along the top of the ridge took us through an incredible number of huge prickly pearcacti.

I even found the prickly pear that I think I was supposed to find for the virtual geocache.

Hope this was the right cactus, though I am not sure.

The cache owner is a biologist.  The goal was to create a photo record of a particular cactus plant as a function of time.  The cache owner first photographed it when creating the cache is 2002.  I thought I had the correct cactus based on multiple recent pics, but now I am not sure based on the log after mine.  Oh well.

Back to the ship.  This hike had been fun, but it was now time to return to the ship and get ready for our next adventure,a panga and glass bottom boat excursion.

One more look at La Pinta before making our way down off the ridge