Rabida Island, Galápagos Islands

In the afternoon, after our first visit to Santiago Island and the bullet fur seals, we headed over to Rabida Island.

This island is known for its red sand and the pink flamingos.   There were 6 mating pairs of flamingos.

6 flamingos standing with their heads buried in wings and one on a nest

They were feeding and the noise they made while feeding was really interesting -- unfortunately I wasn't able to capture it well...but if you listen close in the beginning of the video below, you may hear it. 

Flamingo walking along the water getting ready to eat
And then there was this guy (or gal) giving himself a bath....
flamingo pruning his feathers
flamingo standing so you can see the black feathers on his wings

We saw 2 nests with 1 egg in each!  It was very exciting to the naturalists as flamingos hadn't nested on the island in about 20 years.

flamingo sitting on nest
Flamingo checking on its egg
close up of the flamingo checking its egg

As we were leaving the island, a few sea lions were laying on the red sand.

a young sea lion lays on a  red sand beach

After a short visit to the island, we went for another snorkel.   This was not the best one - lots of fish and a bullet fur seal.  The water felt really cold, so I didn't stay I very long.

There was a bit of drizzle today and very overcast.   After the snorkel, back on board, briefing and dinner...early to bed to get ready for the new day.

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