After an early breakfast we took a dinghy to Mosquera Island and hiked along the beach. Naturally, we saw more crabs and iguanas. This beach had a lot of sea lions and even a few pups. Under rocks we found scorpions. There was also the skeleton of a beaked whale further up the shore.
After the excursion on the beach, we snorkeled near Mosquera for a bit. In the water, we found beautiful starfish, sea slugs, sergeant majors, parrot fish, sea lions, rays and white tipped reef sharks.
Next, we had lunch and sailed to another spot on Santa Cruz. As we arrived on shore at Dragon Hill, we spotted a Blue Heron nearby. A pair of gigantic iguana wrestled for a bit in the path. I think it’s amazing to imagine that maybe 700,000 years ago, all of this land I am standing on was hard, unforgiving rock. Today, there is soil, plants and wildlife.
That evening, we sailed to Rabida. On the way, we saw what was likely to be a bryde’s whale.