Our turquoise sea sparkled invitingly among the rich red and browns of Bartolome's fascinating volcanic features, as we returned from our hike to the top of this unique islet. We landed on the orange half-moon beach, at the foot of the impressive pinnacle rock, and gladly donned our snorkeling gear to immerse ourselves in the beautiful water, at just the right temperature. The conditions were excellent, and this was apparent not only to us, but to the many marine species of the area, who all very obligingly came out to play! We swam among what we now considered familiar acquaintances: the many species of tropical fish, the inquisitive sea lions and the graceful white-tipped reef sharks. Then, all of a sudden, we saw flashes of black and white as little bullet-shaped bodies whizzed by: penguins! We had previously encountered these charming and rather comical characters along the shorelines of Fernandina and Isabela, but there is a small breeding colony on Bartolome as well.
Our endemic Galapagos penguin might be tiny, and only present in small numbers (there is a total population of about 1300 individuals, according to the latest census), but it is a true pioneer: the last thing one would expect to find right on the equator! They are descended from either the Peruvian or the Magellanic penguins, and arrived to this enchanted place by riding the cold Humboldt Current that passes through these islands. They belong to the genus Spheniscus, which contains four species that are generally known as the "jackass penguins" due to their loud braying calls. Penguins are exceptionally streamlined and their dense covering of short, almost scale-like feathers completely insulate them from the elements. Penguins descended from a common ancestor with the albatross and petrel order, and have been around for over 30 million years. They have lost one of the characteristics so useful to flighted birds, the hollow bones, but still have very well-developed pectoral muscles. The reason for this is they literally fly through the water, using their flippers exactly like other birds use their wings, as the picture (taken from an underwater sequence filmed by our naturalist Rafael) clearly illustrates.
The penguins we were snorkeling with today were so bold (showing the typical Galapagos fearlessness) that they were actually playfully taking both flippers and fingers in their beaks!
