Santiago Island
This has been a wonderful afternoon full of surprises. During our navigation from Bartholomew to Santiago we encountered false killer whales and bottle-nosed dolphins just before arriving to Santiago Island, a place full of history. In 1835 a young naturalist, Charles Darwin, set foot on Santiago Island where he spent nine days, collecting all sorts of fauna and flora samples. While trying to put up his tent to sleep, he had difficulty finding space because of so many land iguana burrows. Since his very famous visit some things have changed. Land iguanas are no longer found on Santiago, due perhaps to introduced animals. The beautiful land iguanas and giant tortoises were the only original herbivores on Santiago Island and in Galapagos before goats and cattle were introduced. One of the main roles of land iguanas and tortoises has been to help with the dispersal of some species of native plants like the Manzanillo tree, whose seeds were probably originally brought by marine currents out to the archipelago.
This tree is also known as Poison Apple because the fruit looks like apples, but it is actually a member of the Euphorbia family. The sap that this tree produces is very alkaline and deadly to human beings. The Manzanillo tree is part of the diet of these two reptiles, and as they move from one place to the other they carry the seeds around, spreading them to different locations, and the sap is absolutely harmless to them. We found this tree as we were exploring the coastal zone of Santiago Island this afternoon.
This has been a wonderful afternoon full of surprises. During our navigation from Bartholomew to Santiago we encountered false killer whales and bottle-nosed dolphins just before arriving to Santiago Island, a place full of history. In 1835 a young naturalist, Charles Darwin, set foot on Santiago Island where he spent nine days, collecting all sorts of fauna and flora samples. While trying to put up his tent to sleep, he had difficulty finding space because of so many land iguana burrows. Since his very famous visit some things have changed. Land iguanas are no longer found on Santiago, due perhaps to introduced animals. The beautiful land iguanas and giant tortoises were the only original herbivores on Santiago Island and in Galapagos before goats and cattle were introduced. One of the main roles of land iguanas and tortoises has been to help with the dispersal of some species of native plants like the Manzanillo tree, whose seeds were probably originally brought by marine currents out to the archipelago.
This tree is also known as Poison Apple because the fruit looks like apples, but it is actually a member of the Euphorbia family. The sap that this tree produces is very alkaline and deadly to human beings. The Manzanillo tree is part of the diet of these two reptiles, and as they move from one place to the other they carry the seeds around, spreading them to different locations, and the sap is absolutely harmless to them. We found this tree as we were exploring the coastal zone of Santiago Island this afternoon.
