Galapagos Adventure - Southern Isabella, Urbina Bay

At first light, we traveled a short distance across the Bolivar Channel back to Isabella, at Urbina Bay at the base of Volcano Alcedo. There we visited an area on the western coast of Isabela of great historical and geological interest. In this place, on a fateful day in 1954, 1 1/2 square kilometers of the island's marine reef was suddenly uplifted almost instantaneously by as much as 4 meters. On that day, all the creatures of the sea on that reef were left high and dry.
After breakfast and a wet landing, we undertook a long rigorous walk over rough terrain to observe evidence of this natural disaster, as well as the starkly beautiful landscape and fascinating flora and fauna.

Warblers and Finches (sz)

Sandy looking at bone display (jca)

The first leg of the trail passed by dense stands of shrubbery, full of finches and warblers; the sea coast trail yielded many leavings of bones and shells, sea lion, shark, spiny lobster, the skulls of boobies and goats (from previous farming, now forbidden), dull green sea urchins, and many, many tiny delicate shells.

Brown Pelican (ps)

Ghost Crab (sz)

Plant Shoot peeking out of the lava (ps)

Lava Boulders (ps)

We were required to clamber over stands of huge boulders, a dangerous and frightening passage.

Lava Formations (does it look like a tortoise shell? - too big!) (ps)

Thankfully, the rest of this hike was easier, smooth gravel trails curving inland through woodsy areas full of broad shrubs. Finally we arrived at the site of what some of us had suffered so much to see: the brain coral. This large stand of ossified coral is the remnant of the land"s upheaval from the sea; when that happened the reef died, eventually fossilizing. The several clusters of these formations are pale grayish-white, their whorls and tiny crevices resembling brains, yet also creating a kind of "ghost coral".

Path to the Coral (ps)

Uplifted Coral (sz)

Close-up of the Coral (ps)

Different area of the old reef (ps)

We then wound our way through branches dotted with tiny yellow flowers beside fat clusters of translucent berries. Juan Carlos, our naturalist for the day, told us these berries have been widely used in the islands for both hair gel and glue!