Day 17 in Ecuador

Hey!

Today we did our first day surveying in Santa Cruz! Since we spent most of the day surveying, I want to take this post to talk about some of our favorite animals we’ve seen so far. From hammerhead sharks to sea turtles to blue footed boobies, we’ve seen so much unique wildlife in the past few weeks. However, I think seeing hammerhead and blacktip sharks has been one of my favorite things so far this trip. In San Cristobal, Kicker Rock is home to large schools of hammerhead sharks. The sharks like the area due to the large amount of food and good oceanic conditions. We also saw a  blacktip shark, and on Santa Cruz today, saw some more of this species of shark. However, the mangroves of Santa Cruz are home to juvenile black tip sharks, unlike Kicker Rock. From the pier, we can easily spot around 20 of these amazing animals swimming around. 

Besides our surveying today, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Bahia Mar restaurant. To our surprise, we found ourselves dining alongside Miss Universe. After a busy day, we all hung out and played cards. We look forward to sharing our day with you tomorrow!

- Ava