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| Red-footed booby and chick |
Each island seems to be my favorite as we move through the
Galapagos. Our visit to Genovesa began
with a “dry” landing, where you move from the panga to a quay or rock without
stepping into the water. Genovesa is a
tiny island with a very large, circular lagoon open to the Pacific. It’s a former crater with a section that
collapsed, thus opening the lagoon to the ocean. The entire perimeter of the lagoon is cliffs,
and, fortunately, a crack in the cliff wall in one place where you can climb
some steps to the flat top of the island.
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| Male frigate birds in full mating form with his huge red pouch |
This is a birder’s paradise.
As we walked across the flat top of the island, we were surrounded by
thousands of birds in all directions.
This is nesting season, so we saw many varieties nesting in rocks, in
bushes and on the ground. Genovesa is
the main breeding area for red-footed boobies and frigate birds. We saw parents sharing time incubating their eggs
(larger than duck eggs and no more than 2 or 3 in each nest)—one parent sits on
the egg while the other goes off in search of fish to feed its mate.
Many of the nests (really a euphemism since most of these
“nests” are simply cleared spaces on the ground) had recently hatched chicks,
adorable little balls of white fluff with beautiful eyes and beaks.
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| Nazca booby and chick |
Some birds were still in full mating frenzy. Male frigate birds have a bright red pouch
under their beaks which they puff out to enormous size when they are trying to
attract a female. Apparently the bigger
the red pouch, the better, and dozens of males were displaying their attributes
in hopes of enticing a female into mating distance.
There is a small owl on Genovesa, the short-eared owl, that
is mostly a ground-dwelling bird. It
hangs out in the rough lava rocks and grabs storm petrols as they swoop close
above the ground, tempting fate and sometimes losing.
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| Galapagos Owl |
Genovesa has only one small species of iguana and several
lizards, but is mostly a haven for birds, particularly during breeding
season. Some bird species only nest
here.
Our next stop was along the cliffs of the lagoon for
snorkeling. We tried two spots, but
found the water today to be pretty murky, not as crystal clear as our other
snorkeling trips over the last few days.
But—we did see 2 enormous marine turtles eating algae off the rocks on
the ocean floor. When they see anything
in the water above them, they take off for the deep ocean, but I was able to
follow one for about 50 yards before it dove too far down for me to see it anymore.
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| small Galapagos iguana |
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| sea lions on beach |
These turtles live far out at sea, often traveling thousands
of miles in search of food, but come back to the Galapagos Islands to mate and
lay their eggs. Then, they’re off
again. This is turtle breeding season
and you can see their tracks on the sand, leading to their nests, holes they
dig in the sand dunes where they deposit their eggs and then cover them over
with sand. Having done her job, the
female leaves her brood to incubate themselves and heads out to sea again. She will usually repeat this process 6 to 8 times a season, laying 60 to 80 eggs each time. The eggs are very vulnerable to predators,
including large rats that probably arrived in the Islands on ships, but also
pigs that were brought in by farmers more than a century ago. Once the eggs hatch, it is a mad race for the
sea by the tiny, newly hatched creatures, trying to beat the hordes of birds
who swoop down to devour them.
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| Genovesa Island |
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| red-footed booby |
Our afternoon visit was to a small beach inside the lagoon,
filled with birds, fur seals (uncommon in the Galapagos) and sea lions. Thousands of birds filled the area around the
lagoon with their nests and now their chicks, which have to be ready to fend
for themselves in only a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the parents are very busy securing food—fish—and feeding the
babies. Usually only one chick will
survive the contest for food and enough safety to survive to adulthood. We saw many abandoned eggs, probably victims
of their parents’ need to beat off starvation and predators.
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pangas in lagoon |
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