Isla Isabella

On our way north we decided that we would try and visit Isla Isabella - called the Galapagos of the north. We stopped in before but were chased out with a forecast of 30 knot winds in an open anchorage. There were 3 boats travelling together, but one of the boats decided to carry on as they were having troubles with there windlass. The day we travelled there were whales surfacing and breaching all around us. We had to divert course several times as the whales were getting too close to us. Two of our friends boats were hit by whales this year, luckly no damage.



It takes many shots to get a whale breaching , here is one in the distance.








The island is covered with low scrub trees and lots of frigate birds, and several kinds of boobies live and breed on the island.


This was one of the lucky frigates that had two ladies under his wings. These are skim feeders. One of the fastest birds in the world, they weight 2 to 3 lbs, wing spans in the 6 to 7 foot range.

















These unusual creatures the blue footed boobie nest on the ground. We could get within 1 or 2 feet of them with no problem. They dive after there fish, and some times get caught on our lures.












As you can see the birds nest at eye level and are not afraid of people.