Mosquera Beach and Black Turtle Cove

In the morning, we took a zodiac cruise around the cliffs. 

Cruising around the cliffs via zodiac.

This area is home to many birds, including the male frigate birds. Luckily, we saw some males with their inflated pouches trying to attract a mate. As the male inflates his red gular pouch and the female flies over, he opens his wings and calls. If a female is interested, she lands and the two continue to build the nest. Their nests are made from twigs and guano. The frigate birds are the lightest in relation to their wing span (217-244cm for the magnificent frigate bird and 203-230cm for the great frigate bird). 

Frigate bird playing peek-a-boo.

A frigate bird airs out the parasites.

A baby frigate bird in its nest.

Female frigate bird flying overhead.

Frigate bird perched on branches.

The two species are similar, though there are differences. The great frigate bird is slightly smaller and the males have a greenish sheen to the back whereas magnificent frigate birds have a purplish sheen to their back. It's interesting to note that in a lot of these species, colors used for sexual selection are not actually pigmented. In the case of the male frigate bird, for instance, the red color of the sac comes from blood circulation. Similarly, the blue feet of a blue-footed booby is also due to its blood circulation, which reflects as blue.

On the cliffs there were also brown pelicans, some species of heron, brown noddies and swallow-tailed gulls. The swallow-tailed gulls are my favorite bird, with the red eye ring. I find their feeding habits fascinating. They have a small white patch at the top of their beak that the baby chicks peck to tell their mom they're hungry. The patch is white so that the babies can find it in the night as these birds are nocturnal. Their main source of food is squid and today we actually saw one swallow-tailed gull feeding its mate (they mate for life). 

Brown noddie along the shore.

Immediately after, we had a wet landing at Mosquera beach. We were told we'd have to bring sandals because the tide was very low in the morning, but we ended up being able to walk on the sand and not the rocks. Mosquera is a tiny islet, more of a long, narrow sand split with a huge population of sea lions. This was another white sand beach with beautifully clear water. 

Sun rising over Mosquera beach this morning.

Baby sea lion taking a break from playtime.

Yellow warbler resting on a rock on the beach.

A male sea lion patrolling the beach, barking.

Playful sea lion mid-jump.

Panorama of Mosquera Beach.

My photography highlight here was freezing the motion of the waves crashing against a sea lion that was sitting on the sand.

Photography highlight of the day! Timing is everything.

In the afternoon, we took a zodiac cruise around Black Turtle Cove (Santa Cruz). This location is a mangrove-surrounded series of coves and inlets. Its mangroves are plants that are able to absorb salt water. Black Turtle Cove is a prime feeding area for pelicans, noddies, and blue-footed boobies. In this ecosystem, the mangroves are the most important. Here, there are three kinds: black, red and white. Many animals come here but this area is probably the most important for green sea turtles. If this area is called turtle cove, why is it Black Turtle Cove and not Green Turtle Cove since the sea turtles are green? There's not much black around! 

Landscape of Black Turtle Cove.

Martin, our naturalist, paddling through the mangroves.

Yellow-crowned night heron fishing for food.

A close-up of the blue-footed booby's feet.

Brown pelican flying along the mangroves.

Great Blue Heron (GBH) fishing for food.

Blue-footed booby ruffling its feathers.

It is here that sea turtles mate because the mangroves and lagoon offer protection for both mating and resting. We actually even saw two sea turtles mating, and many more swimming below. The males have a long tail whereas the females have a tiny tail. The females are also larger, though the male is much stronger (so strong that even if the female didn't want to mate, she wouldn't be able to push him away). It is interesting to note that sea turtles grow continually throughout their life, so there are some large males too. When the sea turtles are close to shore, they feed on algae. When they're out in the ocean, they mainly eat jellyfish. If this is an adaptation to improve mating and survival of the sea turtles, then this change of diet per location would be pretty spectacular. We also saw blue-footed boobies, a lava heron, white tip shark, hammerhead shark, and an American egret. 

That's all for now... Stay tuned for more Galapagos adventures. Also, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified of new posts, as there is sometimes unreliable internet! Follow my instagram @elissatitle for more photography posts.