Day 3: Isla Angel de la Guarda and Canal de Balleena

Kayaks

The ship anchored off of Isla Angel de la Guarda (Guardian Angel). We took zodiacs to the beach where kayaks were waiting for us. After some brief instructions Susan and I paddled off to the "Wedding Cake" island, a very small rock island with two pinnacles (the bride and groom?) and covered in guano icing. From some angles it looks like an exploding wedding cake. There were some other interesting rock formations on the way including a rock arch. We took the cameras with us hoping we wouldn't turn over or get them wet and I think we did okay. We paddled at least a couple of miles and my back got sore from sitting on the bottom of the kayak. We walked along the beach afterwards and Susan saw a small ray glide by but I missed it.

Wedding Cake Island	Another view

Back on the boat we prepared for a snorkle trip. We took a panga ride of about 3 miles to a small cove where a colony of sea lions lived.

Rock Arch

There were a couple of mothers with small babies. The idea was to swim with the sea lions and they did come fairly close, but the snorkeling itself wasn't that great though I did see a ray resting on the bottom and some sergeant majors, reddish Cortez damselfish (juveniles are blue), opaleye and other fish. Susan was ready to get back in the boat pretty quickly which was okay by me.

After lunch I saw a small flying fish skim away from our boat which was underway through the Canal de Balleena (channel of whales). That was the first time I had seen a flying fish. It was smaller than I thought it would be.

After the siesta a lecture started about marine mammals. About halfway through a fin whale was spotted. We watched as it would barely surface a few times and then dive, its dorsal fin showing just before it would dive for 10-15 minutes. There were many pelicans diving for food in this spot too.

Some kind of ray

• May 31 Expedition Report by Lindblad
• Lindblad Briefing for Day 3
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