Early in the morning, the National Geographic Islander anchored at the small island of South Plaza for our visit. After breakfast, we went to search for the Galapagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus). We found many of these creatures basking in the morning sun to raise their body temperature and look attractive to potential mates. We witnessed some territorial behavior from the males, who tried to seduce females by staring at them. The effect was obvious as the females fell belly-up into the males’ territories.
Right before lunch, we experienced some unusual excitement when our ship happened to rescue another ship and her passengers from hitting the rocky shores. In a swift maneuver, our captain saved the vessel to everyone’s great relief.
After that dramatic incident, we moved south to Santa Fe Island for kayaking and snorkeling. The kayakers enjoyed seeing Galapagos hawks, sea lions, rays, turtles, and sharks. Meanwhile, we snorkelers met the largest shark in the islands: the Galapagos shark. At about seven feet long, it is a smaller cousin of the great white shark, and it is believed that their babies also attack and eat each other. We were able to see four of these sharks really close.
Our walk later took us to meet the Santa Fe land iguana (Conolophus pallidus), found only on this island. In addition to observing this species, we also spotted the Galapagos snake (Alsophis dorsalis), a good number of Galapagos hawks, stingrays, and more sharks, little ones this time.
It was a truly remarkable day in the Galapagos archipelago.
