Professional nature photographer Karine Aigner recently returned from a photography expedition in the Galapagos Islands. Among her highlights were close encounters with sea turtles. Her experiences are shared below.

We are back on land again after another fabulous tour to the Western islands of the Galapagos. With a fabulous group of people, some photographers and some observers, we bore witness to wildlife at it's best: Blue footed boobies, Frigate birds, land and marine iguanas, giant tortoises, red-billed tropic birds, Galapagos sea lions and more. We swam with flightless cormorants, penguins, turtles and sharks. Stay tuned for more photos from another successful photo safari! Here, Marieke and Nico use a GO PRO to film a close encounter with a green sea turtle.

Green sea turtle in Red Mangroves. Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador.

The wildlife UNDER the water in the Galapagos is just as impressive as above. Green sea turtles are everywhere, and sometimes the easiest subjects to photograph as they lounge, and graze, and just sometimes 'hang around.' I am not an underwater photographer, and struggled with the decision: do I bring a real underwater housing for my Canon Mark III, or, just bring the "little camera?" In the end, time and weight allowance made my decision for me, and so, I was armed only with the Canon G1X. A great little point and shoot for above the water, it is quite slow for continuously moving underwater subjects. I'm happy with a few of the frames, but, next time, there is no question that I will be armed with at least an Ewa bag for the Mark III.