BOOBIES
AND....
BLOWHOLES
....and a Billion Marine Iguanas
Punta Suarez, Española, Galápagos
Ecuador-Galápagos 2018
20 February 2018
Española is the oldest island of the Galápagos, somewhere between 3-5 million years old. Punta Suarez is one of the two visitor locations on the island - the other being Gardner Bay [Beach, Birds, and Balance - Bahía Gardner de La Isla Española].
The island is home to a large quantity of marine iguanas, the only species of aquatic lizard in the world. On Española, there are red and green "Christmas Iguanas" which some scientists believe could be a separate subspecies. Also special to the island are the Waved Albatross, which I did not get to see. Sometimes you can spot a Galapagos Hawk during its breeding season, which we were too early in the year for. However, we did see two in the distance. Too far for any kind of photo or my binoculars. We did get to see a Galápagos Fur Seal, which was the only siting of one my entire trip.The information in this blog is likely from the following sources. Any other sources will be noted separately.
- Fredy and Pepe, our Ecoventura naturalists
- GalapagosIslands.Com: Punta Suarez
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| Sea lions, rocks, and yachts |
The Landing
We split into two separate groups and board the pangas where we have a dry landing. By dry, it means that there is concrete and we can wear our hiking shoes; however, it is wet and slippery. Once my group got off our panga, a marine iguana decided to lay on the path to welcome the next arrival.
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| Dry landing with an iguana welcoming committee |
Wildlife was very abundant as soon as we landed. Crabs, marine iguanas, and of course sea lions!
There is a small lighthouse where the concrete walkway ends and the beach begins.
Once on the beach area (our group is taking the loop clockwise), we stop as Pepe excitedly shares with us all kinds of knowledge.
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| "Hi, I'm a cute baby sea lion! But mom is tired of my antics and left me for a bit to get food." |
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| Young sea lion nursing |
Iguanas are probably the laziest walkers in the world, dragging their tail and legs.
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| Lava Heron |
Lava Heron [Source: Galapagos Conservation Trust]
- Common Names: Lava Heron, Galápagos Heron, Garza de lava (Spanish)
- Scientific Name: Butorides sundevalli
- Usual Adult Appearance: Gray color that serves as a camouflage due to their rocky habitat. Short crest on top of the head. Males slightly larger than females.
- Juvenile Appearance: Brown and streaky plummage.
- Mating Behavior: Monogamous, breed throughout the year. Both mom and dad build the nest together and lay 1-3 eggs.
- Feeding: Shore area on small fish and crabs.
- Where in the Galápagos? All islands along the shore
- Average Size: 35cm
- Average Wingspan: 63cm
- Weight: 2.1kg
- Lifespan: Unknown
A perfect example of Cleaning Symbiosis.
The marine iguanas love being part of the trail.
Galápagos Dove | Sp.
They had several guide books on board the yacht, which allowed me to do some more research as I went through the photos and wrote brief summaries after excursions. I got this information from A Guide to the Birds of the Galápagos Islands by Isabel Castro and Antonia Phillips, 1996. This dove likes to lay low to the ground and is common around many islands. It is characterized by red legs and feet and the bright blue ring around the eyes. They also have a cream colored stripe that runs from the bottom of the eyes to the lower neck. They have a more curved bill than most other doves. |
| Galápagos Dove |
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| Lava Lizard |
We cross over the central part of the island over to the high coast.
The Blowhole
Across the way you can see a smaller blowhole.
We also got to see two Galapagos hawks (Buteo galapagoensis) soaring in the distance. This is usually the island to find them, but their season for being on land is April – December, and we were a few months too early.
Show Me The Boobies
We also finally get to meet the third and final type of booby! We didn’t just meet one – we met HUNDREDS. They were all congregating in the same few areas. There were also some ADORABLE BABY BOOBIES. They look like giant cotton balls with legs and a beak. The first one up close was starting to get its feathers, but then we saw even younger cotton balls without any yet.
Check out that cool rock on the right.
The Various Stages of Annoying Mom
(Sea) Lions And Iguanas And Birds [Oh My!]
We got to experience a less common sighting of a Galápagos fur seal! It was maneuvering towards the water quickly, but I got a picture of it in contrast to the usual sea lions.
Galápagos fur seal | Arctocephalus galapagoensis
As we were starting our way back across the island, a male iguana stepped in front of Pepe and became our new leader as he walked along the path in front of us. He then turned off when he saw some lady iguanas on a nearby rock. Male iguanas do an interesting spazzy head nodding thing when they are interested in a female iguana. The ladies will have different coloration depending on their status – young and pretty, available and ready to go, and already knocked up. There was a dude chilling on a rock with two females. His head was nodding away as the two women slept and (pretended to) not acknowledge his presence.
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| Nap time! |
This guy must be doing something right. He's got at least six ladies hanging by him.
It was interesting – my camera started to actually cooperate with me during the hike and zoom to where I want it. Rather than automatically going to maximum zoom. Let’s see if it keeps up. It's been acting like this since I was in Tena where it was very humid.
Flora y Fauna
Fauna
- Galapagos Sea Lion [Endemic] Zalophus wollebaeki
- Swallow-tailed Gull [Endemic] Creagrus (Larus) furcatus
- Lava Lizard [Endemic] Microluphus spp.
- Marine Iguana|Iguana marina [Endemic] Amblyrhynchus cristatus
- Galápagos fur seal [Endemic] Arctocephalus galapagoensis
- Galápagos dove [Endemic] Zenaida galapagoensis
- Nazca booby Sula granti
Flora
- Sesuvium
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