Galapagos Grandure - Of Two Worlds

Ah ha! You thought I was done with animals, didn't you? But no, we can't forget the animals that make both the sea and land their habitats. There are quite a few of them, including the marine iguanas, but we never got to see them in the water, so I put them with the land creatures.

Let's start with the crabs that seem to proliferate all over the islands. They start out small and black - a great camouflage against the lava rock - and grow into a wondrous red orange, reminiscent of fire. They're rock climbers of the first degree and can also scale wharf piles, cement block and other smooth surfaces effortlessly.

"Hey...heeey" quote from Finding Nemo

Spider crab, spider crab climbs whatever a spider crab can

We also had a couple close encounters with the Galapagos penguin. These guys' numbers are dwindling due to changes in the ocean temperature and lack of food sources. There's only about 4,000 left and we got to hang out with five of them.

The penguin stands alone

The noble penguin surveying his kingdom

Then there are the sea turtles. While they spend most of their lives in the water they do come to land to lay their eggs. We were visiting during the incubation season, so we didn't see any on shore, but we did see their nests marked out carefully, so they wouldn't be disturbed. We swam with these amazing creatures. Some were platter sized and others could have been ridden if you were brave enough, and it wasn't against the rules.

"Eat my dust, land lubber!"

Finally, there are the clowns of the ocean: sea lions. Mating season was well over and there were tons of curious pups and youths. They had no fear of us and would waddle up to us on the beach, smell our shoes and legs and one even tried to have a taste of Ron. The babies had little personalities that I couldn't help but love.

We played "sea lion or rock"

"Yes, I'm THAT adorable!"

"Got fish?" (With our new friend Clare)

The sea lion is thinking "maybe just a lick?"

One little pup had commandeered two unguarded towels, a pair of pants (as a pillow), a shoe and pair of sun glasses. He (or she) was quite pleased with himself, but all the play finally tuckered him out and he laid down to rest on his little nest.

Got my bed sorted

Now for a pillow

Anything else that I need?

I'm so proud, I made my own bed!

And now I'm tuckered out.

In the water they were playful and fast.  It was impossible to keep up with them, but if you even tried it made them more curious. At one point I came across the "beach master", better known as the dominant male, while he was in the water. He was HUGE, so much bigger than me that it was intimidating. Rule 1: swim away from the big guy, out to sea, the beach is his. It was amazing to have sea lions darting all around as we snorkeled through the water.

C'mon! Swim with me!

Man, are you slow! Hurry up.

The dock in Santa Cruz is a favourite spot for the adults and they like taking up the benches and catching up on sleep. We even caught on snoring. (I wish the audio was better.)

The notorious Gabrielus Aquaticus (aka our guide Gabriel, seen both on land and in the water)

Our final installment will show pictures of the landscapes and flora as well as tips about cruising the Galapagos. You're holding out like champs, one more post to go! 

Galapagos Grandure - Life in the Air

While we didn't get to see the flightless cormorants, we did see tons of other birds. Darwin's theory of evolution was primarily based on the adaptations of finches that he saw on the islands. (Or so our guide, Gabriel, told us.) There are 13 or 14 varieties of finches on the island and you need a degree in ornithology to figure out who's who.

Yellow Warbler

Mocking Bird - a cheeky fellow free loading off crumbs

My focus was on the Blue Footed Booby. I saw one on the coast a few years ago, but it was dead and had no head. I really wanted to see a live one and we lucked out, as it was mating season, so we got to see their goofy (yet strangely sweet) mating dance. The key components involve the male showing the female that he has clean feet, is parasite free (he does this by flashing his wings up) and can whistle a pretty tune.  His song sounds a little like a whistle that's missing the bead inside. 

Clean feet all round

It was also Albatross mating season, so we got to see their moves as well. This was more of a line dance, bow to your partner kind of thing that involved making a kissy-kissy head movement. The was some waddling and foot showing. I didn't realize that Albatrosses had eye brows, but they do - the males' being more prominent.

Nesting

Kissy kissy!

The romance didn't end there. The Frigates were at the tail end of their mating season as well, so we got to see the males with their red throat pouches inflated and the females looked on, seemingly unimpressed.  

But the bounty doesn't end there. There are Mocking birds, Fly Catchers, Oyster Catchers, ducks (with babies!) and the sweet little Galapagos dove. 

Our Mocking Bird friend

Red Billed Oyster Catcher

Female Frigate on the lookout for a red necked hottie

Swallow Tailed Gull, nesting

Still looking...

Nazca Boobie (aka the brother killer)

Great Grey Heron

Galapagos Dove

On a side note, the Nazca Boobie has an interesting contingency plan for their offspring. They lay two eggs and nurture the first hatchling, while providing just enough food for the second to survive until they're sure the first will make it and then get the first hatchling to kill of its sibling. Pretty gruesome, right?

Did I forget to mention the flamingos? I think I did. Our guide, who has been doing his job for almost 30 years had never seen flamingos mating and we got to see the job getting done. (It was very fast and I missed the shot, only getting the last part, where the male flies away and the female is left wondering what the heck just happened.)

Gettin' lucky!

And then he's off...wham bam thank  you ma'am!

Of course, our pelican friends hung out with us everywhere. They cruised over our heads as we snorkeled,  fished off the pier and the bow of the ship and floated becomingly as the sun set.

Adult and juvenile enjoying the sun with us

I'll talk about penguins in the next installment, as they're amphibious. Stay tuned!