Galapagos - Adventures of an English “Marine Aquarist”!

SPR

Well-Known Member
We left Urbina Bay late morning on 20th May 2019 and cruised our way towards Tagus Cove which is located on the westerns shores of Isabela Island Galapagos.

I sat on the back of the boat for most of the journey which was a few hours, watching the birds and scenery.

I was looking over the stern of the boat, and a huge Sunfish (Mola Mola or Mola Ramsayi) appeared out of the ocean and flopped over back into the water. It was one of those moments when you think like wow......

Here’s a few pictures of the journey to Tagus Cove and the actual cove itself. The final picture is the landing zone on the island were we would hike to Darwin’s Lake.

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SPR

Well-Known Member
Late afternoon on 20th May 2019 we boarded the inflatables and headed to the landing spot at Tagus Cove.

The rocks were we landed were a little slippery and having wobbled our way onto dry land we headed up the steps to a large area of rockwork engraved with markings from previous visitors from times gone by.

Then we headed towards Darwin’s Lake. This meant navigating up a path to get the best views of the lake, and by the time we got there the sun was starting to go down

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SPR

Well-Known Member
We left Darwin Lake in the early evening of 20th May 2019 and headed North towards Pinta Espinosa on Fernandina Island home to a vast colony of Marine Iguanas

We were sat in the dining room as the light faded, and the Captain shouted down for everyone to come up on deck as he had spotted something in the distance

He actually changed course and we headed towards the area were he had seen some activity

Now I didn’t get any pictures of this because it was nearly dark, with the moon shining on the sea, but as we sped along at full speed, in the distance we could see shiny shapes leaping from the water as they headed off on their journey. A school of dolphins were in the distance and all you could see were their shiny bodies in the moonlight as they jumped from the water.

We followed them for some time and at one point the boat was going around in circles as they dolphins changed course. Simply amazing........

At 0530 on 21st May 2019 we boarded the inflatables and headed to Pinta Espinosa landing point, which was basically the best rocky landing spot we could find. There are few man made landing zones here.

Then we came across ‘a few’ of the local inhabitants. The Marine Iguanas...

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SPR

Well-Known Member
We continued to walk amongst the Marine Iguanas who pretty much ignored us completely

It’s still very early in the morning in these pictures as you can probably tell from the sunrise.

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SPR

Well-Known Member
It was morning of the 21st May 2019 and we continued to walk amongst the Marine Iguanas of Pinta Espinosa on Fernandina Island

As the sun started to rise in the sky, so did the Iguanas and they sort of lifted themselves up a little more to absorb the suns rays....

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SPR

Well-Known Member
The picture below is a protected area were the Marine Iguanas have laid eggs on mass. The area is within the white posts so people don’t walk over it and Luiz our guide told us about it before we went on the island

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SPR

Well-Known Member

SPR

Well-Known Member
We left the Marine Iguanas, for the moment, on the morning of the 21st May 2019 and we continued to walk around Pinta Espinosa on Fernandina Island

Then we came across some more of the locals, who were, well a little sleepy........ and took absolutely no notice of the strange 2 legged things staring at them, going ooo ahhhh

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SPR

Well-Known Member
On 21st May 2019 we left the baby sea lion sleeping and continued to walk around Pinta Espinosa on Fernandina Island

Only a few feet away we encountered another handsome fellow who was more than happy to say hello. Well for a while anyway until he got bored of myself and Ben staring at him!

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