Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent the day snorkeling as we did on our first weekend here with my evolutionary professor. (Note: all of these pictures are from the first trip that we took.) I didn’t realize what we were doing until we started heading to Islote Lobos again. My class was only told that we’d be spending the day at Leon Dormido to work on studying shark demographics. However, it was a pleasant surprise to find out we were doing the trip to Islote Lobos, Leon Dormido, and Puerto Grande again.
At Islote Lobos we were supposed to be looking for sea turtles and a potentially sick sea lion. When we were there in February, we saw a couple of sea turtles. This time we saw no sea turtles, but had some very curious sea lions come up to play with us. This young juvenile swam around with us for at least 20 minutes. He would dive around us, coming as close to your face as he dared before veering off to the side. He was blowing bubbles out and swimming around us upside down. Every so often some bigger sea lions would join the party to check us. At one point I looked down and saw a large lobos underneath me and picked my feet up just in case. I’m hoping that I captured some good pictures on my disposable underwater camera. I also saw some schools of fish and a live sand dollar. I’ve only ever seen the dead sand dollars that are so common in tourist shops on the coast of the states. Instead of being white and bleached out, this was brown and fuzzy looking. 
We then headed over to Leon Dormido, where there were also a few boats of people parked. Some people were scuba diving although I don’t know where they were as I don’t remember seeing them. We were unable to go diving because the course budget does not take into account dives. The bottom of the channel is only 12m deep and it’s possible to see to the bottom clearly enough to make out fish and small sharks, although places around the rock go much deeper. We swam a lot more this time, going through the channel and around the rock a bit. There was also a much stronger current this time, but the boat was following us and willing to pick us up whenever we were tired. I would have stayed in the water with everyone else a bit longer if a jellyfish hadn’t mauled my leg. I had several terrible welts when I climbed out of the water and they hurt longer then all of the other stings I received that day. Even now I still have some marks from those terrible little creatures. I saw sharks this time! There were white tips and Galápagos sharks. Most of them were fairly small, although there were larger sharks around the area that other people saw. I probably saw about 5 this time, which is the most sharks I’ve ever seen in one trip. None of them were very big, but it’s fun to follow them around when they’re several meters below you. One of the Galápagos sharks did start coming closer to the surface as if it wanted to check out what we were, but it lost interest before it was very close and when on its way. There were also several sea turtles around the area and very large schools of fish that were also struggling against the current. I didn’t see the school of tuna that was also around us. Then there was a lost fur seal that I should have taken a picture of. He was sticking his head in the water and then swam off he saw there were more of us. Fur seals are smaller but thicker looking than the sea lions. It’s easier to see how seals, sea lions, etc. (technically pinnipeds) are related to bears by looking at a fur seal.
Once we had had enough of floating around with the jellyfish, we made our way over to Puerto Grande to have lunch and survey the damage from the tsunami. For some reason it is always a process to have enough food for the vegetarians. Luckily I eat fish or I wouldn’t have had food on the trip. Much of the sand is gone from Puerto Grande, forming new dunes and destroying hills that were once there. Mangrove roots, cactus trunks, and pieces of scrap metal prove as evidence for the forces that washed away the beach. There was even a baby shark that had washed ashore. After the tsunami there were young sharks and sea turtles far inland at Puerto Grande because the area is a nursery for both animals. At least the beach does still exist; it’s just a smaller than it used to be. These last few days of our marine ecosystems course means we actually have to do some work. There’s a paper to write for the research we’ve been doing, presentations were given today on those same projects, and tomorrow is our final exam. Although the paper isn’t due until Sunday, the plan is to get it finished so that we may enjoy the weekend between classes before we start our final course for the semester. Our last class is supposed to be the one with the most work after having to do barely any work all semester. The professor is the founder of GAIAS and has swum from Leon Dormido back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno when the motor for the boat needed to be fixed and he didn’t feel like waiting. Starting our last class means we only have three weeks left on this island. Although my stomach is ready to go home, not all parts of me are ready to leave the Enchanted Islands. Speaking of which, I feel that I’ve been using that name wrongly as it refers to the mysterious disappearances of people rather than the ability of the islands to woo people.
Best wishes to all at home!
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