At Long Last… Galapagos!

It’s been about two weeks since I last set foot in Galapagos, and almost three weeks since my last post, and I apologize for that. There are pesky things called papers, field notebooks, and final exams that got in my way. But those are over now! So here are a lot of pictures of (and facts about)  the Galapagos.

Let’s start with some geology! And by geology I mean “look at those clouds spilling into that crater!”

Sierra Negro Volcano on Isabela Island.

Isabela Island, like almost all of the Galapagos Islands, is of volcanic origin. Such origins create cool formations such as lava tunnels, which occur when hot liquid lava continues to flow underneath hardened, cooled lava.

Los Tuneles, remnant of old lava tunnels.

South Plazas is one of the few islands that is not of volcanic origin, but nevertheless the scenery there is quite spectacular as well.

Me watching shearwaters (seabirds) from the cliff on South Plazas.

Remember how I said in my last post I would get better photos of pelicans, frigatebirds, and boobies in Galapagos? Well I missed the pelican, but…

Magnificent frigatebird on our boat

Frigatebird flaring its tail

Blue-footed booby flock

Booby staredown

Blue-footed booby with chick.

A Nazca booby. There are actually five species of booby in the world, and three nest in Galapagos.

I also managed to spot three waved albatrosses, but I didn’t photograph any of them (at least not well). They are big birds, with 8 foot wingspans. The closest I got this shot of an Elliot’s storm petrel, a robin-sized cousin of the albatross (both have tubular noses that help them sniff out prey and excrete excess salt, since they drink salt water).

The Galapagos also has flamingos, which eat tiny pink brine shrimp from brackish wetlands. The pigments from the shrimp color their feathers. This specific flamingo species (American flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber) is originally from the Caribbean and some how managed to arrive in Galapagos. This same species occasionally pops up in the Everglades.

In addition to these birds, the endemic bird life (i.e. native to only  also proved quite photogenic.

A common cactus finch eating cactus fruit while perching on a cactus. Aptly named I would say. This is one of the species of Darwin’s finches.

The Galapagos subspecies of the striated heron, often called the lava heron due to its camouflaged plumage. The same species in the mainland is brown and striped, as the name suggests.

One of my favorite Galapagos birds, the swallow-tailed gull. It’s the only nocturnal gull species in the world and breeds only in Galapagos and on one island near Colombia. Its main food source is nocturnal squid. Source.

Galapagos penguin, the only penguin found north of the Equator (unless you count zoos and aquariums).

“But what about the tortoises?” you may ask. Don’t worry, I have pictures of literal piles of tortoises.

This is a tortoise nursery on Isabela island, not the wild!

And tortoises eating.

There are actually two main types of tortoise in Galapagos. The dome-shells (above) live in the moist highlands, where much of the food is close to the ground. The saddle-shells (below) live in the desert-like lowlands, where they need to reach for their food (e.g. cactus).

Other endemic reptiles include land iguanas, marine iguanas, and lava lizards.

Land iguana

Marine iguana with a lava lizard hat. The lava lizards sometimes eat parasite off the iguanas.

A crossing of marine iguana tracks in the sand

Galapagos sea lion chilling with a marine iguana. Two iconic animals in one photo!

Speaking of sea lions, October happens to be pupping season for much of the Galapagos, so we go to see a lot of sea lion pups. These sea lions are actually descended from California sea lions and not South American sea lions, which are found as close as Peru.

“Don’t you mess with me!”

While Galapagos doesn’t have the tidepools of Ecuador, colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs line the shores.

Under the water, the Galapagos is incredible, seeing as it has currents coming from the north, east, south, and west bringing spectacular sea life from many corners of the Pacific. I could only photograph a few species, seeing as I only had a barely function underwater disposable camera. Also, the lens of said camera was exactly where I wanted to put my finger when taking a shot.

Reef manta ray (and my finger). I don’t think that counts as a selfie.

Whitetip reef sharks swimming in the sky above a marine iguana (just kidding, the iguana’s on a cliff).

This could be my last post for a while, seeing as I’m headed back to the paramo of Antisana to research the endangered Andean ibis. The goal is to find a nest of this bird, which is something that has not yet happened in Ecuador. Wish me luck!