Sunday morning, after breakfast and another beach session, we took a boat trip around the island. We had been told most of Taboga is a wildlife refuge, and that there was a huge colony of nesting pelicans, cormorants, and egrets on the far side.
We did see a bunch of pelicans, cormorants, and egrets, but nowhere near their usual numbers. And very few nesting. Frederico, our boat driver/guide, said that the problem is the bait fish. The water is unseasonably warm right now due to El Niño, and so there are very few small fish present, and as a result hardly any nesting birds.
The large fish are absent too. The locals still try to dive and spear fish, but they are not doing nearly as well as usual. This shot captures some of the clash of worlds - tankers in the background, tiny cayuco in the foreground.
Gwendolyn, who had refused to nap due to her extreme excitement about swimming/wading in the "Ocean!", promptly fell asleep on our boat trip. Here she is, groggy, waking up at the very end.
Sunday morning, after breakfast and another beach session, we took a boat trip around the island. We had been told most of Taboga is a wildlife refuge, and that there was a huge colony of nesting pelicans, cormorants, and egrets on the far side.
We did see a bunch of pelicans, cormorants, and egrets, but nowhere near their usual numbers. And very few nesting. Frederico, our boat driver/guide, said that the problem is the bait fish. The water is unseasonably warm right now due to El Niño, and so there are very few small fish present, and as a result hardly any nesting birds.
The large fish are absent too. The locals still try to dive and spear fish, but they are not doing nearly as well as usual. This shot captures some of the clash of worlds - tankers in the background, tiny cayuco in the foreground.
Gwendolyn, who had refused to nap due to her extreme excitement about swimming/wading in the "Ocean!", promptly fell asleep on our boat trip. Here she is, groggy, waking up at the very end.
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