Marine ignanas, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos. They spit salt out their nostrils.
"I´m so full I can´t move." Marine iguanas gorge on marine algae then lay out in the sun to warm up and speed up digestion. All the others were 20 feet away on the other side of the road (previous photo). The building in the background houses the CDRS marine biology department. There is a resident colony of 30 or more marine ignanas here.
Floreana marine iguana. Galapagos is home to the world´s only species of marine iguanas. The ignanas on Isla Floreana have this distinctive coloring. The ones on Santa Cruz, where we live, are black. The iguanas feed on marine algae.
A marine iguana on the beach on Isla Isabela.
Lonely terrestrial ignana. This is a male that lives in an enclosure at the Charles Darwin Research Station. They are much less common than their marine counterparts.
Giant land tortoise in a typical pose. CDRS has a captive breeding program and has pens of tortoises -- young and old -- from the various islands. Visitors can walk through the pens and get a close look.
Tens of thousands of Galapagos tortoises were collected by whalers, pirates and others for fresh meat. They can survive up to a year without food or water.
Today, Invasive species like goats, ants, cattle and many plants are the biggest threat to their survival. On one island where goats have been eraticated blackberry bushes are taking over.
A smaller female having a snack.
Baby tortoises have color-coded numbers painted on their shells. After they are about six years old or so, the are reintroduced on their native island.
The youngest ones are kept in caged pens. The screen covers are lowered at night to keep out feral cats and other predators.
Isla Floreana near Black Beach.
Opuntia and candelabra cacti at the Charles Darwin Research Station. Galapagos isn´t a tropical paradise. The lower elevations are arid or semi-arid and the cactus on the left (Opuntia) is the most common tree you see. They are beautiful. The islands really aren´t meant for human habitation, as history has shown.
This is a Nazca boobie.
A blue-footed boobie on Isla Seymour. They look akward but are superior divers.
White-tipped sharks and marine iguanas at Los Tintoreras on Isla Isabela near Puerto Villamil. The sharks enter this narrow channel at high tide, rest during low tide, then leave at the next high tide.
Flamingoes in a salt lagoon near a beach on Isla Seymour.
Here I am after a hike to Sierra Negra on Isla Isabela. It´s the second largest volcanic crater in the world after Ngorogoro Crater. It last erupted in 2005 and 1998.
My husband snorkeling in a lagoon at Isla Isabela. The water is cold here and the skies are, like Seattle, overcast for much of the year.
