Las Islas Galapagos

For the duration of her gentle 900 mile sail to the Galapagos from mainland Panama Saecwen provided a mobile home to a wandering juvenile red footed boobie (aka Doobie the Boobie), who took up residence on the push pit at the very front of the boat. A times, up to five other boobies would be squawking-off for the best position at the bow.  However, on reaching the famous Galapagos archipelago this proximity to wildlife took on a whole new dimension.

Doobie the red-footed booby and his friends

After being greeted by a huge pod of leaping spinner dolphins when we made our dawn landfall off the Island of San Cristobal, our first anchorage at Isla Santa Cruz was a spectacular wildlife haven. Our first wild encounter were the black tipped sharks swimming right under Justin’s feet dangling in the water as he undertook some essential repairs to our towed generator. We thought it best not to mention the sharks so as not to distract from the critical electrical re-wiring which involved some dexterity as he dangled off the stern. We did however draw his attention to the school of over 30 small eagle rays that next swam right past him. We later learnt that these sharks, like most of the wildlife on the Galapagos are completely unperturbed and uninterested by us two-legged folk or in the case of the sea lions quite the opposite – they are curious and playful and even quite like having their photos taken.

Sea lion coming to say hello, Floreana

Next sighting were the magnificent and adorable Galapagos sea lions. On arriving at the dinghy dock we had to practically climb over one to avoid disturbing from what looked like a very comfortable siesta.  Any flat surface will do for the sea lion siesta: a concrete dock, a wooden bench or a floating raft.

Our neighbouring sea lions on a floating raft, Floreana

They are the most are playful and inquisitive creatures, engaging with the humans they share the islands with. On land they appear heavy and ungainly but in the water they are transformed into powerful and agile swimmers. The local sea lions came up to inspect Saecwen when we anchored off the Island of Floreana, and on one memorable occasion a small group swam with us as we snorkelled, swimming straight towards us and then darting away at the last second.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/135a74_dc50f03489d74f1ea147dfe8707be590/480p/mp4/file.mp4

Justin swims with sea lions, Floreana

Onshore one of the most prolific creatures we met were the marine iguanas, who love to lay flat out maximising their surface area to soak up the heat from the black volcanic rocks. These are one of four types of iguana on the Galapagos who have each adapted to the different ecosystems across the islands, and on our first swim Charlie spotted one swimming, hence the ‘marine’ version.

Marine Iguana basking in the sun, Santa Cruz

Our favourite island visit was Floreana, one of the smallest islands of the twelve that make up the archipelago, which is home to around 150 human inhabitants and tens of thousands of other creatures.  Here we met at least three of the twelve different types of finches that had inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution back in the 19^th century, observing how these birds had adapted and evolved in different ways to suit the local habitat. Unlike the finches back home, these delightful tiny birds were very tame and quite oblivious to us as we traipsed through the lichen rich forests of Floreana on a 10km hike across the island.

Medium tree finch, Floreana

The diversity of the Galapagos is in part thanks to the convergence of three different ocean currents that meet the islands at different times of the year. From January to June the warm current from Panama keeps the water and the land warm, ideal for the land based creatures, such as the tortoises (who can live to over 100 years old!) and iguanas to soak up the rays and lay their eggs. During the second half of the year the cold Humboldt current rises up from the western coast of South America bringing with it essential nutrients for marine life to flourish whilst the land temperatures drop to about 18 degrees. Worryingly, it looks as if the later part of this year will see another major El Niño event, when the Humboldt current reverses depriving the islands temporarily of this vital food source.We were lucky enough to be the only yacht at anchor off Floreana – a notable comparison with the crowded anchorage at Santa Cruz where an ocean rally of a fleet of large catamarans was passing through. Within metres of the boat we discovered an abundance of aquatic creatures to marvel at. When we first dived in to inspect the anchor, we were immediately joined by a large turtle who swam over to say hello.

The most striking thing we noted when snorkelling here was just how BIG the fish were: bright pink and turquoise parrot fish over a foot and a half long; giant grey bumpy headed wrass with wispy tails of similar size and shoals of huge yellow tailed surgeon fish. While the Caribbean is home to a huge diversity of fish, some of the same species tend to be larger on the Pacific side, thanks to these nutrient rich waters and, presumably, the fact that the Galapagos waters are so effectively protected by the Ecuadorian government.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/135a74_74c50a69059a4ca8a1709a4076fb2dda/480p/mp4/file.mp4

Yellow Tailed Surgeon Fish, Floreana

Thanks to the abundant marine life, the birds in the Galapagos seem to be very healthy and well fed.  We loved watching the blue footed boobies plunge like sharpened pencils into the water and the Pelicans with an equally dramatic dive for fish, whilst the huge black frigate birds circle on high. There was never a dull moment above or below the water line.

Blue Footed Boobie, Floreana

We will be sad to leave this magnificent and totally unique wildlife haven and are curious to know which exotic creatures will be joining us on Saecwen’s push pit as we head out into the deep blue Pacific Ocean on our next adventure.

Pelican preparing for dive on Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz