January 22
by GREG ESTES
(Richard Polatty has been in the antarctic)Sea Water Temperatures:
Gardner Bay (January 8) 76.1 degrees F (24.5 degrees C)
Punta Suarez (January 8) 73.4 degrees F (23.0 degrees C)
Punta Cormorant (January 9) 74.7 degrees F (23.7 degrees C)
Elizabeth Bay (January 10) 62.2 degrees F (16.8 degrees C)
Punta Espinoza (January 11) 70.5 degrees F (21.4 degrees C)
Puerto Ayora (January 12) 77.4 degrees F (25.2 degrees C)
Darwin Bay (January 13) 77.7 degrees F (25.4 degrees C)
Puerto Egas (January 14) 72.5 degrees F (22.5 degrees C)
Buccaneers Cove (January 14) 73.4 degrees F (23.0 degrees C)
Bartolome (January 15) 73.9 degrees F (23.3 degrees C)
Sombrero Chino (January 15) 73.4 degrees F (23.0 degrees C)
North Seymour (January 16) 70.5 degrees F (21.4 degrees C)
South Plaza (January 16) 70.7 degrees F (21.5 degrees C)
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (January 17) 70.7 degrees F (21.5 degrees C)
As you can see from the above water temperatures the "normal hot season" has not quite arrived yet. We are still getting some areas of "intense equatorial upwelling" of cold water (62.2 degrees F in Elizabeth Bay on January 10). If one compares the above water temperatures with those taken back in November there is not a substantial difference. For example, 70.5 degrees F (January 11) compared with 69.3 degrees F (November 23) at Punta Espinoza, Fernandina. And 77.7 degrees F (January 13) compared with 76.5 degrees F (November 22) at Darwin Bay, Tower. We would expect warmer water for this time of year in the islands; it appears we are experiencing a 2-3 degree F negative anomaly and the associated productive waters are making many a blue footed booby very happy. Both at Punta Suarez on Hood (Española) and on North Seymour the blue foots were seen sky pointing and mating. No eggs were seen but if the waters remain cool and productive, eggs and chicks should be appearing soon. However the blue footed boobery is still not full. We estimated that on Jan. 8 no more than about 10% of the nesting area for the blue foots at Punta Suarez had courting pairs. Here in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island we have had only one rain shower in the past two weeks, on Jan 5. It was enough to green up Steve Divine's ranch but Steve says he is still bringing in tankers of water for his cattle as his ground is still hard and has soaked up little moisture. The finches are singing even though they have little to sing about as it is so dry.Perhaps the biggest surprise was seeing swimming crabs in Elizabeth bay on Jan 10. To say they were abundant would be an understatement; there were literally hundreds of thousands (if not millions). Naturalist guide Ron Sjostedt told me that he has observed these crabs since October in the islands. In the past few months Ron has observed them in Elizabeth Bay and Banks Bay at Isabela island and Caleta Tortuga Negra at Santa Cruz island. These crabs are not commonly seen in Galápagos but do seem to appear after strong El Niño events. They were observed following the big El Niño in 1982-1983. There was high recruitment of larval and juvenile crabs of the portunid, Cronius sp. during early 1983. According to Gary Robinson "Months later, Galápagos residents on many islands were able to capitalize on the ubiquitous swimming crabs which were greatly prized as food..." (in El Niño in the Galapagos Islands: The 1982-1983 Event . G. Robinson and Eugenia M. del Pino eds. 1985 ).
Elizabeth Bay was so full of these crabs on Jan 10 that it was not easy to find a place to go snorkeling; the crabs have powerful pincers. We eventually braved the cool water (62.2 degrees F) at one of the Marielas islets. Unlike elsewhere in Elizabeth Bay there were few crabs seen on the surface but when we entered the water we found the bottom covered with them; many were seen feeding on each other. Thalia Grant observed these crabs one year covering Darwin Bay at Tower (Genovesa). Apart from these crabs the biggest surprise was on Hood (Española) where we found three waved albatrosses courting on the trail at Punta Suarez on Jan 8. Albatrosses normally disappear from Hood by the end of the first week of January. The albatrosses were seen in a site on the trail where they are not normally observed; the marine iguana nesting area just before the dip. The albatrosses went through their full courtship display. That was worth a BoW. We had some great sunsets and sunrises (an unconfirmed report of a green flash); the southern cross was visible just before dawn.
The seas were relatively calm and the southeasterly winds are still blowing. Generally, the weather is pleasant . Although the middle of the day is hot with little cloud cover, at night the air temperatures dip down to the mid seventies..
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Specific Island Reports:Jan 8 Hood (Española)
Gardner Bay:No evidence of green turtles nesting; no new tracks. Sea lions on beach.
Punta Suarez:
Blue footed boobies and masked boobies sky pointing. Blue footed boobies mating. Swallow tailed gulls mating. No blue footed booby chicks; a few juveniles. Masked booby chicks (two days - two and a half months). Three waved albatrosses courting.
Jan 9 Floreana
Punta Cormorant:No evidence of turtles nesting on the white flour beach: no new tracks. One pair of green turtles mating in the water at flour beach. Sting rays (at least 6 seen at flour beach). No flamingos.
Highlands very dry. Vermilion flycatcher. Medium tree finch.Champion (observations made from the boat):
Only 10 sea lions. One Charles mockingbird.
Jan 10 Isabela
Elizabeth Bay:Penguin numbers down at the Marielas; only twelve seen on rocks (three were molting). Blue footed boobies observed sky pointing and mating at Marielas.
At least ten turtles (all females) in cove.Urvina Bay:
Goats abundant. Six land iguanas. One young tortoise (about fifteen years old) on inland trail. Eight adult cormorants and one juvenile; one pair nest building and one adult sitting on nest. One big male marine iguana on beach walk.
Jan 11 Isabela
Tagus Cove:No goats. White cheeked pintails in lake.
Fernandina:
Four adult cormorants at point. Sixteen adults observed in the distance past tide pools; two individuals nest building and one sitting on a nest.
Ten spotted eagle rays in tide pool. No anis. No male iguanas fighting.
Marine iguanas observed feeding on sea lettuce; sea lettuce appears to have fully recovered from El Niño. No rusty damselfish.Jan 12 Santa Cruz
Los Gemelos very dry. Woodpecker finch. Vermilion flycatcher. Small tree finch.
Divines Ranch:
Thirty tortoises (29 males and 1 female). Vermilion flycatcher
A pair of barn owls seen hunting at Narwhal Restaurant.
Jan 13 Tower (Genovesa)
Prince Phillips Steps (morning visit):Storm petrels abundant. Masked boobies nesting. Red footed boobies with chicks. Juvenile masked and red footed boobies. A few great frigatebirds with pouches inflated. Swallow tailed gulls courting at beach. No anis. One manta ray and one hammerhead shark. The young sixband (big eye) jacks (Caranx sexfasciatus) which I observed to be abundant near Prince Phillips Steps in Darwin Bay in June 1998 have disappeared. These fish were commonly seen in Galápagos during the 1982-83 El Niño event (see Grove & Lavenberg, The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands, 1997).
Jan 14 Santiago
Puerto EgasOnly one fur seal observed at the grotto. One octopus in tide pool.
Territorial bull sea lion at landing beach. American oystercatcher but not nesting. The sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) has unusually long fronds (I remember this also occurred after the 1982-83 El Niño); the mortality of the marine iguanas from the Niño means there is less grazing pressure which could explain why the alga is thriving. The marine iguanas which survived are also doing well. No penguins. Migratory birds; semipalmated plover, wandering tattler, whimbrel, ruddy turnstone.Jan 15
BartolomeTen fresh tracks of the green turtle on beach (east side of island). Rat tracks seen on beach. Several penguins seen on lava near landing beach. A group of 12 penguins seen in the water. Great snorkeling at Bartolome and Sombrero Chino. Five Hawaiian "makimaki" (spotted green) puffers (Arothron hispidus) seen at Sombrero Chino. This puffer is considered rare in Galápagos (see Grove & Lavenberg, The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands, 1997).
Seven adult flamingos were seen in the crater at the Bainbridge Rocks.
Jan 16
North SeymourAbout forty pairs of blue footed boobies courting. Ten male magnificent frigatebirds courting with pouches inflated. One male great frigatebird was heard courting with its characteristic warhoop call. One blue footed booby chick (about 4 weeks old). Fifteen magnificent frigatebird chicks up to two months old. Batis maritima has not come back at the end of the trail on the beach. School of ten Galápagos sharks seen on eastern side of North Seymour. Sea lions surfing in waves on western side of the island. Two swallow tailed gulls nesting.
South Plaza
Opuntia cactus is in full bloom. Many land iguanas vying for yellow cactus flowers near landing. Island looking very dry; sesuvium red, portulaca has not leafed out but buds beginning to show. Fewer sea lions than normal but many bachelors in bachelor colony. Females nursing pups (1-3 months old).
Swallow tailed gulls mating. Four or five red billed tropicbirds.Jan 17
Kicker Rock was full of boobies (mostly blue foots, some masked, no red foots). One male great frigatebird was heard displaying.
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