Isla Isabel - January 2020

Approaching Isla Isabel, after an overnight passage from Mazatlán, we were thrilled at how many whales were in the area.

Multiple adult and young humpbacks were breaching, flipper-slapping, and sounding, some as close as 200m from shore.

Hoku Pa'a now carries a hydrophone for listening to whales!

Short selection of whale song

Longer portion of whale song

The crackling/snapping/popping sounds are made by shrimp, parrotfish, and other creatures feeding on the reef. It's noisy under the water!

The anchorage we chose was one of two, and the closest to two small islets that looked promising for snorkeling. Although it had some bounce and roll, the scenery was worth it.

A bird's-eye view of the island. Originally a volcano, there's now a crater lake in the middle.

Our intrepid explorers venture ashore...

One of Isabel's many attractions is the Blue-footed Booby.

The Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) is a great fisher and swimmer, and is attractively coloured...

...but has a certain goofiness that makes one smile.

Thousands nest at Isla Isabel, laying their eggs in scooped-out depressions at ground-level.

Isabel has no natural predators to the Blue-footed Boobies, so they retain a fearlessness. Many are banded - meet #612.

They love being photographed :-)

Most, but not all, of the resident boobies were blue-footed. Here's a Brown Booby / Bobo Café (Sula leucogaster), dressed for a fancy dinner out.

We leave the Boobies, to see what lies farther inland...

The Frigate (left) is about twice the size of a Booby (right). Light as a feather is an appropriate description, as they have the lowest weight-to-wing-area ratio of any bird, and can remain aloft for weeks, sleeping while soaring.

Unlike the Boobies, the Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) found at Isla Isabela build their nests in trees. Many were at our head-height, and this one contained a cute youngster.

Adult females have white plumage on their lower necks and breasts. Adult males are smaller than the females and have a red neck sac they inflate when trying to impress. Both male and female will feed the young for the first three months. After that the males seem to lose interest.

Like the Boobies, with a lack of predators on the island the Frigates are easily approached. It is, however, a bad idea to stand directly underneath one.

The southern bay of Isla Isabel holds a long row of rudimentary huts used for temporary accommodation by fishers and nature groups. Later in San Blas we met such a group of about 35 students heading out for a few nights on the island.

One of two spiders we met on the trail.

This one (about 8 mm across) looks like it borrowed a crab shell.

Almost as numerous as the birds, iguanas and lizards were roaming the ground and lounging in trees.

This one's an older (about 3 feet nose-to-tail) Green Iguana (Iguana iguana). Even though they are called Green Iguanas, they come in other colours depending on their age, gender, and where they live.

Sporting an awesome stripes-and-polka-dots combo, is some kind of skink, we think.

We believe this is a Spiny Lizard / Roño Espinoso (Sceloporus horridus)

We're always impressed with how well the hermit crabs can fold themselves into their spiral home.

Flying creatures landing in one's hair aren't usually welcome, but some are so pretty...

Extricated from Barb's hair and placed on a more agreeable (especially to Barb) surface...

The visual treats of Isla Isabel were just as exciting underwater. We enjoyed many snorkel trips around the Las Monas islets.

Panamic Fanged Blennies have a scary name, but are only a few inches long and usually shy.

Bjarne briefly swam with this Spotted Eagle Ray; Barb unfortunately missed it (she's near the surface to the right).

This is only the third time we have spied Gafftopsail Pompanos - this time we were fortunate to have nice clear water.

Initially we thought we were approaching a brown rocky ledge, but it shifted and shimmered wierdly. Once closer, the ledge revealed itself as a school of over a thousand Golden Cownose Rays!

The rays were swimming slowly, stacked several deep in layers that extended as far as we could see to the left and right. It took several minutes for the whole school to pass by. Amazing!

It's always a treat to spot a Turtle - this one was being cleaned (by a juvenile Mexican Hogfish) and wasn't bothered by our presence.

Our turtle unfortunately has a fishhook embedded in its left front flipper - hopefully the hook will rust away soon.

Sunrise at Isla Isabel. After four wonder-filled days, it was time for us to sail southward to San Blas.