12-29-11 ISLA ISABELA, GALAPAGOS: Last night’s cruise wasn’t bad, like rocking in the cradle, almost. Isabela is one of the two youngest islands and, by far, the largest, with six active volcanoes. On the southern coast, where we are, in Puerto Jose de Villamil, there are two thousand residents, humans, badly out-numbered by the sea lions and marine iguanas. Our first jaunt was through a mangrove forest on a boardwalk, avoiding the sea lions and iguanas.
Next, after a short taxi ride to a lake in an old quarry, we saw birds, Galapagos ducks, some waders and other water birds, and the flamingos that were displaced from Floreana. There are less than there were, and the naturalists think the flamingos are leaving for the Caribbean, but have no idea why. We started walking back to town and went to Isabela’s tortoise preservation center.
There are five species of tortoises on Isabela, each on its own volcano. The tortoises are endangered by mammals, grazers trample the nests, mice and rats eat the eggs, dogs and cats kill the new born tortoises and goat compete for their food, cactus and grass. Adult tortoises are safe from such predation, but no eggs or young survive in the wild. The preservation center staff gather eggs laid in the wild, as well as the eggs laid in the center, allow them to hatch as if they were in the wild, and oversee the development of the newborns and juveniles. The adults are re-introduced to the appropriate habitat in the wild in successive stages. The whole operation seems to be successful.
We returned to town on a walkway through treed areas and wetlands, colonized volcanic flows. There were lots of water birds and waders and iguanas. Then came lunch on the boat and after rest period, some of us went snorkeling and others napped. In the late afternoon, we did another walk on an island in the harbor, Las Tintoreras, covered with aa lava, large, rough cindery chunks with sharp points. The name is Hawaiian and comes from what people say when they walk on aa lava with bare feet. The lava is splashed with white lichen.
The island is home to scads of marine iguanas, the adults may be the largest that we have seen. They’re black with yellowish tint. A narrow crevasse on the edge of the island is open to the ocean and filled with fish, including white tip sharks, and a large sea turtle.
There were plenty of shore birds also. On the way back to the boat in the zodiacs we saw one penguin, perhaps a juvenile, standing on a guano covered rock having a stare-down with a blue footed booby. We thought it ended in a draw. About four adult penguins were swimming and diving nearby. In the water they look like ducks. As soon as we were back on the boat, the crew set sail for Santa Cruz and Puerto Ayora.
Tomorrow we explore the highlands of Santa Cruz and wend our way back to Baltra for the return flight to Guayaquil and, eventually NY-JFK.
A mangrove forest from the inside. These forests provide protection for the near-shore habitat and are filled with wildlife. See the bird top center?
Mangroves from the outside at low tide. Sea lion and crabs on the rock in the center. The Galapagos tidal excursion is four to six feet, as you can see, depending on the phase of the moon.
Flamingo in a lake in an old quarry. The lake is enjoyed by lots of water birds.
Flamingo landing, the black feathers disappear when not in flight.
Tortoise on the move.
Tortoise yawn, perhaps it's a boring meeting.
This lava flow is pahoehoe lava. It has a smooth, braided or ropy look. This area is undergoing colonization by the plants.
White-tipped shark fairly deep in the water. The dorsal fin and tail have the white tips.
Sea turtle near the surface of the seawater-filled lava crevice.
This island is a breeding ground for the marine iguana.
This is aa lava. When the lava cools, it breaks up into cinders, each with dozens of glassy, sharp points. The name is from people's comments while walking on it with bare feet.
Galapagos penguin.
Blue footed booby intruding on the penguin's space precipitated a debate between the two parties.
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