Española Island
Our first experience on the archipelago was wonderful. Yesterday, before landing on any island, we saw a big pod of bottlenose dolphins. We enjoyed watching them bow riding. They were our welcome committee to the Galapagos Islands. What a way to start the trip!
Today we were visiting the Island of Española. During the morning we saw different species of sea birds like Blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, mockingbirds, Galapagos hawks and waved albatrosses. And we saw all those birds up close.
During the afternoon we went to Gardner bay where we had all kinds of water activities. The snorkeling around turtle islet was fantastic; we saw different tropical fish, rays, and white-tip reef sharks.
The Galapagos Islands have an interesting mix of tropical and temperate types of fish. Water temperatures are known to fluctuate from a cool 15 degrees Celsius to a warm 29 degrees Celsius, depending on time of year and site, thus providing a range of temperature regimes.
Fish are divided into two main groups: the cartilaginous fishes, which include sharks and rays, and the bony fishes, which include those we normally think of as fish. Some 306 species of fish are found in Galapagos waters of which a quarter are endemic forms, one of the highest levels of endemism in the world.
Most Galapagos waters are still unexplored and new species continue to be discovered.
Our first experience on the archipelago was wonderful. Yesterday, before landing on any island, we saw a big pod of bottlenose dolphins. We enjoyed watching them bow riding. They were our welcome committee to the Galapagos Islands. What a way to start the trip!
Today we were visiting the Island of Española. During the morning we saw different species of sea birds like Blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, mockingbirds, Galapagos hawks and waved albatrosses. And we saw all those birds up close.
During the afternoon we went to Gardner bay where we had all kinds of water activities. The snorkeling around turtle islet was fantastic; we saw different tropical fish, rays, and white-tip reef sharks.
The Galapagos Islands have an interesting mix of tropical and temperate types of fish. Water temperatures are known to fluctuate from a cool 15 degrees Celsius to a warm 29 degrees Celsius, depending on time of year and site, thus providing a range of temperature regimes.
Fish are divided into two main groups: the cartilaginous fishes, which include sharks and rays, and the bony fishes, which include those we normally think of as fish. Some 306 species of fish are found in Galapagos waters of which a quarter are endemic forms, one of the highest levels of endemism in the world.
Most Galapagos waters are still unexplored and new species continue to be discovered.
