Ecuador - Galápagos Islands
by Günther Eichhorn
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Ecuador - Galápagos Islandsby Günther Eichhorn |
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Wildlife in the Galápagos is awesome, stunning, or whatever other superlative you can come up with, it really is! Visiting these islands is an experience of a lifetime!
The Galápagos Islands are located on the equator, about 1000 km (600 miles) west of Ecuador in the Pacific. There are a dozen or so major islands, and lost of small ones. The largest one is Isla Isabela, the main island for the tourists is Isla Santa Cruz, with Puerto Ayora the main tourist center. Five of the islands are inhabited, the others are protected. There are about 20,000 people living in the Galápagos, about half of them in Puerto Ayora.
The Galápagos were discovered in 1535 by Tomás de Berlenga, the Bishop of Panama. They were used by pirates and fishermen. These visitors slaughtered the large tortoises by the thousands for food. Many of the subspecies are extinct now. One of them, the subspecies from Isla Pinta, has only one surviving member, Lonesome George, who is in the Darwin Research Center in Puerto Ayora. The Darwin Station has a breeding program for the Galápagos tortoises to re-introduce them into the wild. Tortoises of different subspecies are raised till they are 3-4 years old and then repatriated to the island where the subspecies belongs.
All the Galápagos islands are protected in the Galápagos National Park. The entrance fee for the park is $100.00. This sounds a bit high at first, but when you consider that there are only about 50,000 to 60,000 visitors per year, the resulting income of $5-6 million is not nearly enough to maintain such a huge park. I was quite happy to pay this small fee for seeing an extraordinary nature reserve. Visits to the islands are restricted to the official visitor sites. All boats must have an official park guide on board. Hopefully this will help to maintain the islands and their flora and fauna.
One of the most serious problems that the wildlife has is the introduction of foreign species. Domestic animals such as cats, rats, and goats create havoc on these islands. Some small successes have been made in eradicating introduced species, but only very few. One very annoying introduction are the mosquitoes. The islands used to be free of biting insects. Now the mosquitoes even carry Dengue Fever in the Galápagos.
Being on the equator, the weather in the Galápagos islands is nice year-round. Temperatures are around 30° C (80° F). There is the occasional tropical rain shower, but most of the time it is sunny. The water is relatively warm in most places (around 25° C, 80° F), but there are very cold currents around in some places. These cold currents have temperatures of around 15° C, 60° F, which makes for very cold scuba diving.
During my trip I was scuba diving for 7 days, and then visited four islands on land (Isla Plazas, Isla Floreana, Isla Seymore Norte, and Isla Bartolomé) in addition to Isla Santa Cruz.
Isla Bartolomé is a fairly young volcano. It has only the very earliest pioneer plants that colonize freshly formed volcanoes. Around Bartolomé you can see the Galápagos Penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus). They are the smallest of the warm weather penguins. They are only about 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 inches) tall and weigh only 2 kg (5 pounds). They are found on several of the Galápagos Islands, but most of them are on Fernandina and Isabela Island. On Isabela Island are the only penguins in the northern hemisphere. These penguins are endangered, there are only about 800 breeding pairs left. Near Isla Bartolomé is Cousins Rock, a small white island. It is white from sea bird guano, and has a great diving spot. This is where I saw the sea horses.
Isla Santa María (mostly called Floreana) is one of the inhabited islands. We saw mostly cultivated land on our short drive around. You can see plenty of birds. some of the rock formations were quite interesting. Altogether I didn't have enough time to see much on that island.
Isla Plazas has nesting sea birds, a colony of sea lions (Zalophus californianus wollebacki, a subspecies of the California sea lion), and a large colony of land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus), as well as marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). The iguanas are quite interesting looking creatures.
Isla Seymore Norte was the most interesting, with a colony of blue footed boobies (Sula nebouxii), masked boobies (Sula dactylatra), great frigate birds (Fregata minor), and magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens). The males of the two species of frigate birds are nearly indistinguishable. The male great frigate birds have a green iridescent sheen on their black back feathers, while the magnificent frigate bird shines purple. The blue footed boobies and the frigate birds had mating season, so we could watch the courtship dance of the boobies and the courtship display of the frigate birds. It was impressive to say the least.
Isla Santa Cruz is one of the islands that has wild tortoises (Geochelone elephantopus). There is a nature reserve for the tortoises, but it is much easier to see them on a private farm, Rancho Primicias, next to the tortoise reserve. I hired a cab for $20. That included the tour around the Rancho and a walk through the lava tube nearby. The largest tortoise that I saw was over 1.5 m (5 ft) long, and over 150 years old. These tortoises are amazing creatures.
The major part of my visit was dedicated to scuba diving. Scuba diving in the Galápagos is, without a doubt, the most mind blowing experience in the Galápagos! This was the best scuba diving that I have done so far. Swimming among a school of 10-20 sharks is awesome. If you behave right, sharks don't attack scuba divers, so I wasn't worried. One time when one of the sharks swam right at me though, I retreated a bit to give him way 
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There are not too many corals there, but the variety of fish is immense. Besides the sharks (scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) and white tipped reef sharks, Triaenodon obesus), we saw several different kinds or rays, moray eels, all kinds of reef fish, sea horses, and the ever-present sea lions playing around us. Besides the fish, the starfish are really interesting. The cushion sea star, and chocolate chip sea star and the blue sea stars are quite spectacular in their colors. Other fish of note were baracudas, trumpet fish, stone fish and puffer fish.
I didn't see dolphins while diving, but we saw lots of them while driving to the dive sites and back. We also saw a school of short finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhyncus) playing around our boat for a while. A school of manta rays feeding of the surface was quite spectacular. Seeing them jump out of the water is quite a sight. Another impressive sight are the sea turtles. The largest that we saw was about 6 feet long, a huge creature.
The day trips for diving go to different islands. The boat trip takes between 45 min and 2.5 hours. The longest trip that I took was a trip to Floreana, the shortest was one to Gordon Rocks.
I had a new digital underwater camera. Having the viewing screen in the back of the camera finally allows me to see what I am aiming at. Unfortunately I can't focus my eyes that close anymore. Reading glasses in the dive mask are out of the question, so I have to figure out something else. I hope that one of the flat reading lenses may work, I'll try that next time. Unfortunately I had a problem with the case leaking. The moisture condensed on the front window, which blurred a lot of images. Fortunately it didn't damage the camera.
From my experiences during this trip I have a few recommendations if you want to visit the Galápagos:
1. If you plan to do both scuba diving and land visits, please do yourself a favor and do the land visits first. The land visits are very interesting, but they are completely eclipsed by the spectacular scuba diving, they seem ho-hum after diving. If you do the land visits first, they are much more captivating.
2. For scuba diving you have two options, live-aboard or land based. I stayed land based, and I liked it very much. I like to have a solid bed. The diving was so spectacular on land based trips, that a live-aboard tour isn't really necessary, unless you want to go to the outer islands Darwin and Wolf. The diving there is very challenging and only for really experienced divers. I would have been in over my head if I had tried that. Even the diving on day trips from Santa Cruz is quite challenging due to very strong and very cold current, certainly not for beginners.
3. For the land visits on the other hand I would suggest a live-aboard cruise. The day trips from Santa Cruz don't let you see very much of the islands. I can imagine that you can experience a lot more during a cruise.
4. To get there, you can fly either through Quito or through Guayaquil. Staying overnight in Quito can be a headache (literally, because of the altitude). You will probably sleep pretty badly because of the altitude. On the other hand, Quito is certainly worth a visit of 2-3 days. If you don't want to visit, it is better to fly through Guayaquil.
There are quite a few hotels in Puerto Ayora, so it would probably be OK to just go there and arrange everything when you get there. Arranging scuba diving on a day-by-day basis is no problem, there are several scuba diving operators. The same goes for day trips to other islands. A live-aboard tour however, should probably be arranged in advance.
Altogether, the trip to the Galápagos was a trip of a lifetime. I can really most strongly recommend a visit there. It is amazing!
 Quito and surroundings |  Ecuador |  Amazon Rainforest |
All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn
My first view of the Galápagos Islands on approach to Isla Baltra (I believe it is Isla Isabela). (258k)
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Isla Baltra with the airport in the upper left corner. (360k)
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Sea birds over Isla Enderby (near Floreana) (487k)
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One of the small islands off Isla Santa Cruz. (430k)
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A dormant volcano on Isla Santa Maria (also called Floreana). (408k)
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A stone carved head on Floreana. It was reportedly carved by pirates who used these islands in the 18th and 19th century. (951k)
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The volcano of Isla Bartolomé with the sparse pioneer vegetation. (540k)
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Lava flow on Isla Bartolomé. (1018k)
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Lava tube on Isla Bartolomé. (855k)
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A much larger lava tube on Santa Cruz. It is up to 20m (65') high and about 400m (1300') long. You can walk through the tube (crawl in one place). (589k)
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View from the volcano on Isla Bartolomé. It looks like a view of Mars. (682k)
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View from Isla Bartolomé towards Isla Santiago. (417k)
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View from Isla Bartolomé with the white Cousins Rock right of center. (363k)
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Isla Daphne Mayor. (356k)
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Isla Daphne Menor. (450k)
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View of Isla Santa Cruz from the north. (388k)
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I believe this was somewhere around Isla Bartolomé. (366k)
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A rocky outcrop of volcanic lava with some cacti. (493k)
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Volcanic lava beach on Santa Cruz. The marine iguanas (see below) blend right in with that color. (610k)
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That looks like it could be fun too, even though I prefer a solid bed at night. (429k)
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Column basalts on Isla Baltra. Column basalts form when certain kinds of lava cool and fracture in the typical columnar forms. (573k)
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Column basalts on Isla Baltra. (612k)
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Rocas Gordon (Gordons Rocks). That was where we hit the really cold and strong currents (15°C, 60°F) while scuba diving. (490k)
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Fishermen in Puerto Ayora handling their catch. There are lots of sea birds around that area, waiting to get the discards from these fish. (543k)
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Harbor scene in Floreana. Notice the sea lions sleeping on the boat. (454k)
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Evening scene near Floreana. (445k)
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Sunset between Floreana and Santa Cruz. (276k)
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Banana cactus (Brachycereus nesioticus) on Isla Bartolomé. Named after the color and shape of its branches. It is one of the early colonizers of new volcanoes. (555k)
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Plant on Floreana. (529k)
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Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides), a relative of the pineapple. (500k)
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Large cactus (Opuntia echios) on Isla Plazas. (602k)
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Opuntia cactus flowers. (379k)
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Galapagos Carpet Weed (Sesuvium edmondstonei) on Isla Plazas. A large part of this island was covered with this plant. Sesuvium turns orange/red when there is a water shortage, otherwise it is green. (778k)
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Galapagos Carpet Weed plants on Isla Plazas. (880k)
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Galapagos Carpet Weed flowers. (429k)
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Flowering tree. (324k)
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Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle). I did not see many areas with mangroves. (988k)
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Moth. (301k)
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Green Hawkmoth (Eumorpha labruscae). (331k)
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Hawk Moth (Hyles lineata florilega). Large, day active moth, collecting honey. (406k)
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Large, day active moth, collecting honey. You can see the long proboscis, collecting nectar. (372k)
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A hunting gecko. (276k)
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Galápagos lava lizard (Microlophus albemarlensis). (364k)
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Lava lizards, ready to fight. (681k)
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Lava lizard in a fight. They weren't hurt, just holding on to each other and wrestling. (614k)
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Female or immature Medium Ground Finch (Geospiza fuliginosa). (303k)
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Galápagos Mockingbird (Nesomimus parvulus). (441k)
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Female or immature Small Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis). (481k)
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Galápagos Flycatcher (Myiarchus magnirostris). (273k)
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Female or immature Small Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis). (250k)
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Male Small Ground Finch (Geospiza fortis). (537k)
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Warbler Finch (Certhidea olivacea). (461k)
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Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). (440k)
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Brown pelican. (429k)
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Brown pelican. (319k)
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Pelican in slow flight. (208k)
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Galápagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis). (261k)
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Nesting Swallow-Tailed Gull (Creagrus furcatus). They keep their beaks open to dissipate heat by panting, just like dogs. (327k)
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Swallow-Tailed Gull with chick. (553k)
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Ruddy Ternstone (Arenaria interpres). (407k)
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American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus galapagensis). (514k)
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Lava heron (Butorides sundevalli). (586k)
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Lava heron closeup. (571k)
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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). (333k)
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Great Blue Heron (juvenile). (607k)
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Great Blue Heron. (344k)
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Great Blue Heron closeup. (350k)
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Masked Boobie (Sula dactylatra). (249k)
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Blue Footed Boobies (Sula nebouxii). (529k)
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Blue Footed Boobie. (373k)
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Closeup of a Blue Footed Boobie. (286k)
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Closeup of a Blue Footed Boobie. (256k)
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Closeup of a Blue Footed Boobie. (293k)
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Closeup of a Blue Footed Boobie. (399k)
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They are really bright blue. (340k)
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Pair of Blue Footed Boobies in courtship. (583k)
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Courtship display. (477k)
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Courtship display. (528k)
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Courtship dance. (756k)
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Courtship dance. (685k)
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Courtship dance. (458k)
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Group of Blue Footed Boobies displaying. (437k)
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Group of Blue Footed Boobies displaying. (476k)
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For this one his courtship dance worked. (480k)
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Frigate Bird colony. (784k)
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Frigate Bird colony with displaying males. (768k)
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Frigate Birds colony with males in mating display on Isla Enderby near Floreana. (783k)
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Frigate Bird nest with male and chick. (541k)
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Male Frigate Bird displaying his throat pouch. (469k)
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Male Great Frigate Bird (Fregata minor). (616k)
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Male Frigate Bird displaying his throat pouch. (471k)
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Male Frigate Bird displaying his throat pouch. (403k)
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Closeup of male Frigate Bird displaying his throat pouch. (324k)
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Juvenile Magnificent Frigate Bird (Fregata magnificens) in flight. (143k)
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Male Frigate Bird in flight with mating display. (159k)
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A colony of Land Iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus) seeking shade under a cactus. (856k)
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Land Iguana. (644k)
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Land Iguana. (530k)
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Land Iguana. (501k)
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Land Iguana. (402k)
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Land Iguana. (357k)
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Land Iguana. (507k)
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Land Iguana. (501k)
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Land Iguana feeding on a cactus. (578k)
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Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). They were hard to see on the black lava rocks. (431k)
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Marine Iguana. (812k)
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Marine Iguana close up. (523k)
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Marine Iguana close up. (575k)
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Marine Iguana close up. (522k)
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Marine Iguanas. According to our guide, they were not mating, they keep close to help with regulating their body temperature. (387k)
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Galápagos Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus). (540k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (798k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (623k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (457k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (755k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (439k)
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Galápagos Tortoise. (488k)
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Tracks from a sea turtle that went ashore to lay eggs and then returned to the sea. (664k)
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Composite of the following shots of a diving bluefooted boobie (183k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (297k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (425k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (427k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (352k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (323k)
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Diving bluefooted boobie. (307k)
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Sally Lightfoot Crabs (Grapsus grapsus). These crabs are everywhere on the shores. (462k)
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A crab on a high perch. (221k)
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The darker one is presumably a freshly molted crab whose shell has yet to harden. (695k)
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Beautifully colored Sally Lightfoot Crab. (521k)
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Sally Lightfoot Crab close up. (382k)
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Sally Lightfoot Crab close up. (358k)
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Sea lions (Zalophus californianus wollebacki) on shore. (639k)
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Sea lion climbing ashore. I saw them in the most unlikely place, wondering how they got there. (582k)
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Sea lion colony. (522k)
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Swimming sea lion. (393k)
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Baby sea lion. (464k)
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Relieving an itch. (454k)
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Those eyes! (327k)
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Amore! (354k)
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Dolphins playing in the bow wave of our boat. (332k)
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Dolphins. (357k)
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A school of pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhyncus). (577k)
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Pilot whales. (368k)
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Pilot whales. (565k)
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Pilot whale closeup. (440k)
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Manta rays (Manta birostris) feeding near the surface. (385k)
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Manta ray. (301k)
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Manta rays. (381k)
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Galápagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus). (446k)
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Galápagos penguins. (655k)
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Galápagos penguins. (489k)
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Galápagos penguins (407k)
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Fishing sea birds. (433k)
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Colorful underwater scene. (1454k)
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Orange Cup Coral (Tubastrea coccinea). (1435k)
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Sea anemones. (1302k)
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Orange Cup Coral (Tubastrea coccinea). (947k)
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Sea fan. (1334k)
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Brain coral and Blacktip Cardinalfish (Apogon atradorsatus). (1181k)
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Sea cucumber (Isostichopus fuscus). (1127k)
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Sea cucumber. (928k)
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White Sea Urchin (Tripneustes depressus). (1664k)
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Pencil-spined Sea Urchin (Eucidaris thouarsii). (1279k)
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Pencil-spined Sea Urchin. (1014k)
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Pencil-spined Sea Urchin. (1032k)
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Panamic Cushion Sea Star (Pentaceraster cumingi), left, and Chocolate chip sea star (Nidurellia armata), right. (1644k)
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Panamic Cushion Sea Star. (971k)
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Panamic Cushion Sea Star. (1427k)
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Panamic Cushion Sea Star. (1491k)
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Panamic Cushion Sea Star. (1416k)
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Blue sea star (Phataria unifascialis). (1788k)
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Blue sea star. (1453k)
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Blue sea star. (1269k)
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Blacktip Cardinalfish. (1713k)
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Inside a school of Pacific Creolefish (Paranthias colonus). (1032k)
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School of Blue-and-Gold Snapper (Lutjanus viridis) with Pacific Creolefish (Paranthias colonus) in foreground. (1167k)
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School of Razor Surgeonfish (Prionurus laticlavius). (1322k)
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School of Pelican Baracuda (Sphyraena idiastes). (973k)
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Two King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer). (1501k)
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Three Mexican Hogfish (Bodianus diplotaenia), young terminal phase (center) and initial phase (below and right). (1216k)
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Two Razor Surgeonfish (Prionurus laticlavius). (835k)
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Galápagos Ringtail Damselfish (Stegastes beebei). (959k)
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Guineafowl Pufferfish (Arothron meleagris), spotted phase (center), with Black Wrasse around (Halichoeres adustus). (1172k)
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Guineafowl Pufferfish (Arothron meleagris), yellow phase. (916k)
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Starry Grouper (Epinephelus labriformis). (1361k)
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Starry Grouper (Epinephelus labriformis). (1558k)
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King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer). (626k)
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Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus). (533k)
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Trumpetfish (Aulostomus chinensis). (574k)
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Giant Damselfish (Microspathodon dorsalis) (1377k)
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King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer). (976k)
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King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer). (1041k)
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Stone Scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri mystes) (1520k)
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Giant Hawkfish (Cirrhitus rivulatus). (1424k)
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Pacific Seahorse (Hippocampus ingens). (781k)
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Diamond Stingray (Dasyatis brevis). (775k)
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Zebra Moray Eel (Gymnomuraena zebra). (1369k)
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Panamic Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax castaneus). (1297k)
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Panamic Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax castaneus). (1162k)
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Closeup of Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas). (1251k)
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Huge Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas). This one was about 1.8m (6 ft) long. (645k)
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Diving Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus wollebacki) (599k)
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Sea Lion playing with scuba divers. (716k)
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Group of Galápagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis). (647k)
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Two White-Tipped Reef Sharks (Triaenodon obesus). (588k)
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White-Tipped Reef Shark. (560k)
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White-Tipped Reef Shark. (887k)
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White-Tipped Reef Shark. (652k)
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White-Tipped Reef Shark. (875k)
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White-Tipped Reef Shark in school of fish. (893k)
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Large Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini). (621k)
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All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn
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