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Negra and Wolf. All of these volcanoes except Ecuador are still active,
making it one of the most volcanically active places on earth. Two of the
volcanoes, Ecuador and Wolf (the island’s highest point with an altitude
of 5,600 feet), lie directly on the equator. The island is primarily noted for
its geology, providing excellent examples of a geologic occurrence that
created the Galápagos Islands, including uplifts at Urvina Bay and the
Bolivar Channel, tuff cones at Tagus Cove, and Pulmace on Alcedo and
Sierra Negra, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
It’s also noted for its abundance of wildlife such as Galápagos hawks,
doves and land iguanas. I saw Sally Lightfoot Crabs clinging to the sharp,
wave-battered rocks. These five-legged crabs are nimbly adept at scaling
the steep contours of volcanic crags. They also ran on their tiptoes across
deserted beaches before entering the ocean. I also marveled at Darwin’s
Finches. Darwin’s Finches were an important part of his theory of evolution.
There are 15 species of finches on the archipelago, but to this day it
is unclear which bird family they belong to, but they are not related to
true finches. The most important differences between the finches are the
size and shape of their beaks, which are highly adapted to various food
sources.
North Seymour Island
Blue-footed Boobies are excellent hunters, diving 60 mph and
plunging deep for their food while fishing in large flocks. The island
possesses one of the largest breeding colonies in the Galápagos. They
share the island with a breeding colony of Magnificent Frigate Birds. Over
time the two seabirds have developed an interesting relationship. The
boobies do all the hard work diving and catching fish of the day. The
aerobatic frigate birds are the pirates of the islands. They lie in wait, chase
after the boobies and then force the blue foots to drop their catch.
The island is covered in low-growing, bushy vegetation. I meandered
on the visitors’ trail, which although is only just over a mile long, it
possesses a high concentration of wildlife easily demanding my attention.
There was a Lava Lizard choking down a grasshopper. A giant land
iguana inhaling some of the sparse vegetation. One of Darwin’s Finches
was enjoying a yellow cactus bloom. There was a furious flock of storm
petrels swarming the cliffs. All of this on an island that is less than one
square mile in size.
Genovesa Island
As soon as I jumped out of the skiff onto horseshoe-shaped Genovesa
Island, I could hear their clicking and clacking. I learned the island was
also known as Bird Island, so I wasn’t surprised to see this mating pair of
Masked Boobies socializing on a knobby rock outcropping bringing their
beaks together in unison, each with a small twig in their beak.
The five-square-mile isle also harbors large colonies of Red-footed
Boobies, Swallow-tailed Gulls, Storm Petrels, Red-billed Tropicbirds,
Magnificent Frigate Birds, Darwin’s Finches and Galápagos Mockingbirds.
Regrettably this was my last swim back to the boat. Fittingly I was
swimming out of Great Darwin Bay, formerly a volcanic caldera whose
walls had collapsed. As usual I had company in the middle of the bay.
Several young Galápagos sea lions joined me, swimming around me in a
balletic underwater dance until vanishing to darker depths.
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