On Punta Espinoza on Fernandina, the youngest of the Galápagos Islands we see hundreds of marine iguanas – black in colour and lying on the warming lava to gain warmth and energy for the day ahead. Their numbers actually dropped significantly in the last El Nino when waters warmed and the algae upon which they feed retreated to deeper, cooler waters. As the iguanas were not able to dive to that depth or hold their breathe for that long many died of starvation / drowning.
Snorkeling this morning is with the marine iguanas which are feeding on the algae on the rocks close to shore and with many sea turtles… it makes the one that we saw alone so much less exciting. It is also great to see the penguins swimming in the water.
In the afternoon we snorkel off the beach-at Urbina Bay- just upon entering the water I spotted a spotted eagle ray and saw very little thereafter as the water was very murky due to the incoming tide. It was disappointing as the snorkeling is always my favourite here!
When getting ready for our walk through some more mangroves and on the lookout for tortoises we were being “attacked” by paper wasps. We were introduced to poisonous apple trees- the apples are eaten by the tortoises. The tortoises on this island live in the crater of the volcano and have a 3-month journey down to mate and lay eggs and a 4-5 months journey to get back up in the crater! We spotted three male land iguanas which are various shade of yellow- orange. They are vegetarians, despite their looks. Right at the very end of our walk we see a small tortoise next to the path.
