Santa Cruz Island
It is late on a Wednesday night, after a full day’s unforgettable activities and experiences; after encounters with possibly the strangest animals in the world: Galápagos giant tortoises; and it is time for a bedtime story…
Once upon a time, in a continent far, far away, a medium-sized desert tortoise had the misfortune to stumble into the frigid waters that bathed the arid coastline of her homeland. After an initial fright, she found to her surprise that she could float, and breathe by sticking her long neck out of the water. When she tried to head back towards the shore, she found to her dismay that her stumpy elephantine feet were not suitable for swimming – oh how she envied her sleek, distant cousin the sea turtle with its legs evolved into fins! The strong currents overcame her efforts and swept her out to sea, her home dwindling away to a speck in the distance and finally disappearing altogether.
Over twenty days passed out at sea, not a sighting of land, a drop of freshwater or a bite to eat. As she baked under the hot tropical sun, she was thankful for the thick scaly skin that protected her from sun and water loss, and for the hardy metabolism that allowed her to survive long periods of drought and famine.
And then one day she was awoken by the calls of seabirds – surely this meant that land had to be somewhat close! And there it was: low, dark specks looming on the horizon. Having just about given up hope of finding safety, she was overjoyed despite the forlorn and unwelcoming aspect of the approaching shoreline. Would she be able to find food and water? How about a companion – was it possible that some other tortoise had somehow endured and survived the same ordeal? Would she be able to find soil suitable to lay the eggs she was carrying within?
Her heart sank as she finally struggled ashore over sharp, rugged, sterile-looking black rocks. It appeared as though the depths of the earth had opened up and spewed out liquid fire over the ocean, which had then solidified into these unforgiving landscapes. The only signs of vegetation were tall, prickly-looking trees: would she ever be able to reach these? On recovering some strength she started to slowly move inland, and things started to look a little brighter: although there was no sign of any other tortoise, it seemed as though she might be able to eke out a living here, and even find suitable conditions for her eggs. Maybe she would be able to start a new dynasty on these remote islands… Maybe the generations descending from her offspring could evolve into giants to replace the missing herbivores of her homeland and reach the different-looking vegetation… Maybe they would even spread further afield and colonize the islands she could see in the distance…
And with these sweet dreams of hope, this is how the original ancestor of the fourteen different species of giant Galápagos tortoises might have spent her first night in her new home (with quite a bit of poetic licence!).
It is late on a Wednesday night, after a full day’s unforgettable activities and experiences; after encounters with possibly the strangest animals in the world: Galápagos giant tortoises; and it is time for a bedtime story…
Once upon a time, in a continent far, far away, a medium-sized desert tortoise had the misfortune to stumble into the frigid waters that bathed the arid coastline of her homeland. After an initial fright, she found to her surprise that she could float, and breathe by sticking her long neck out of the water. When she tried to head back towards the shore, she found to her dismay that her stumpy elephantine feet were not suitable for swimming – oh how she envied her sleek, distant cousin the sea turtle with its legs evolved into fins! The strong currents overcame her efforts and swept her out to sea, her home dwindling away to a speck in the distance and finally disappearing altogether.
Over twenty days passed out at sea, not a sighting of land, a drop of freshwater or a bite to eat. As she baked under the hot tropical sun, she was thankful for the thick scaly skin that protected her from sun and water loss, and for the hardy metabolism that allowed her to survive long periods of drought and famine.
And then one day she was awoken by the calls of seabirds – surely this meant that land had to be somewhat close! And there it was: low, dark specks looming on the horizon. Having just about given up hope of finding safety, she was overjoyed despite the forlorn and unwelcoming aspect of the approaching shoreline. Would she be able to find food and water? How about a companion – was it possible that some other tortoise had somehow endured and survived the same ordeal? Would she be able to find soil suitable to lay the eggs she was carrying within?
Her heart sank as she finally struggled ashore over sharp, rugged, sterile-looking black rocks. It appeared as though the depths of the earth had opened up and spewed out liquid fire over the ocean, which had then solidified into these unforgiving landscapes. The only signs of vegetation were tall, prickly-looking trees: would she ever be able to reach these? On recovering some strength she started to slowly move inland, and things started to look a little brighter: although there was no sign of any other tortoise, it seemed as though she might be able to eke out a living here, and even find suitable conditions for her eggs. Maybe she would be able to start a new dynasty on these remote islands… Maybe the generations descending from her offspring could evolve into giants to replace the missing herbivores of her homeland and reach the different-looking vegetation… Maybe they would even spread further afield and colonize the islands she could see in the distance…
And with these sweet dreams of hope, this is how the original ancestor of the fourteen different species of giant Galápagos tortoises might have spent her first night in her new home (with quite a bit of poetic licence!).
