Galapagos Island: A Zoologists' Dream: Day 8 - 7/30 - Santiago Island (Day 5 in Galapagos)

Early Morning Hike through Playa Espumilla, Santiago -

Today was the earliest activity we’ve had so far. We left on a zodiac at 6:30 am for Playa Espumilla on Santiago Island (the second largest of the islands). Carlos, our favorite Naturalist, walked us through the inland areas where we saw vast sandy spaces littered with thousands of holes from fiddler crabs. We hiked through a dense forest of mangrove trees (just amazing - I felt like a little kid exploring the woods and scouting out tree house property) and up a small mountain, where we saw mockingbirds, finches, and a Galapagos hawk. At the top of the mountain, Carlos explained how during the wet season a large waterfall forms across the trail we were walking through. We finished our hike back on the beach and saw a few dozen sea turtle nests (no babies/eggs were visible), as well as pelicans and Masked boobies (aka Nazca boobies) hunting for breakfast.

Morning Snorkeling @ Buccaneer Cove, Santiago -

KH and I went snorkeling at Buccaneer’s Cove after breakfast today. This area of Santiago is named such, because it was once visited/occupied by pirates. As we disembarked from the main ship, a few people saw what the crew had written down for today’s water temperature…a balmy 67 degrees (yesterday when I was shivering in the water the temperature was 70…woof). Our snorkeling site was against a jagged cliff and we were instructed to swim along the cliff until the very end, where we could swim into the cove. As we swam, we were able to maneuver throughout large chunks of the cliff that once fell off the mainland. Tons of animals lived in the small crevices created by these rocks, including barnacles, pyramid sea stars, parrot fish, king angelfish, and a huge manta ray laying at the bottom of the ocean. As we swam into the cove, the water got colder and much darker than anything I’ve ever swam in; I couldn’t really see anything, except the legs of people in front of me. As we navigated toward the back of the cove, KH spotted a sea lion doing laps and summersaults around us. Of course we frantically tried to follow him, but it was too dark inside the cove, and none of our videos of him playing were clear enough to see…womp womp.

Afternoon Long Hike/Swim at Puerto Egas Santiago -

Around 2 in the afternoon, we took a zodiac from our ship to Puerto Egas, a different area of Santiago than we’ve seen yet. As we arrived on the beach, a sea lion was circling our zodiac and several other sea lions were laying on the sand. Even after we laid down towels for people to layout or go snorkeling, the sea lions walked through our “camp” and over our towels, bag, etc. - it is their home first! KH saw more fish, sea anemones, lime green sea urchins, and a sting ray while snorkeling. Meanwhile, I was busy harassing a 2 week-old sea lion pup - I have tons of video to share when I get home (and pictures below). We spent about two hours on the beach, during which we were able to see how the alpha males (there were two for this particular group) interacted with their females (multiple) and pups.

Our naturalists, Fernando, warned us that the alpha males are aggressive about their territory and that we should keep our distance from him/them. Of course, one then proceeded to swim right up to me. It’s those moments (and we’ve been fortunate enough to have many down here) that I remember these are wild animals…with very sharp teeth! After our time on the beach, we went on a hike inland on the island. We got to see our first fur seals (picture below), which look similar to sea lions, but have larger heads, denser fur that looks like hair, and are generally fatter in the midsection…think Santa Clause in seal form. These particular seals were hanging around a collapsed lava tunnel that the locals have named “Darwin's Toilet,” because of how the water flushes in and out from the ocean. Fernando explained that fur seals were hunted for a long time and are therefore less trusting/friendly toward humans than the sea lions. Tomorrow we are visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center (YES!!!) and having lunch in the highlands of Santa Cruz, where the tortoise populations are very dense…we’re both hoping to see a very old, large Lonesome George relative…we will see!

1. Fun Fact: A barnacle’s penis is the longest invertebrate penis relative to body size - thanks for that Carlos

2. Fun Fact: The locals call the blue footed boobies “bluebies” and the red footed boobies “rubies"

Morning hike on Santiago