Galapagos Islands
8 days cruising round the Galapagos Islands off the west coast of Ecuador with my dad. Apologies for the size of the gallery; the pictures tell the story of our trip and I just couldn't make it any smaller!
Before the cruise, we spent two nights in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island, the most populated town of the islands. This friendly fish eater was our first taste of how close the wildlife will tolerate humans - I was rather concerned that he was about to gulp down my lens, camera, and strap.
A half-hour walk over the hill took us to Tortuga Bay, with miles of spotless sandy beaches.
We got ourselves a little damp trying for the best marine iguana pose.
Quite tricky to capture these little fellas in the low light as they hop around very energetically.
Hundreds of the marine iguanas gather together to blow salt out of their noses; I got a little wet trying (without success) to catch the expectoration on camera.
Drinking the nectar.
Mmmm, salty.
This is Lonesome George and no wonder he looks so down as his is a very sorry tale.
He is the last remaining specimen of the Pinta subspecies of giant tortoise after goats had been introduced to Pinta island and devastated the vegetation. He was rescued into captivity in 1971, and a number of attempts have been made to breed him with closely related subspecies from nearby islands, even successfully producing eggs, but unfortunately all inviable. Attempts are ongoing, but I suspect a little blue pill may be the missing ingredient since he has now topped 100 years and appears somewhat exhausted.
Without success, the Pinta tortoise will become extinct with his demise.
UPDATE: Sadly, on the 24th June 2012, Lonesome George passed away taking the Pinta tortoise into extinction.
At the fish market, patiently awaiting supper.
Arctocephalus galapagoensisBrown PelicanGalapagos Fur SealPelecanus occidentalis
Dinner is served as the fish is gutted and the seal and pelicans make short work of the tidy up operation.
Arctocephalus galapagoensisBrown PelicanGalapagos Fur SealPelecanus occidentalis
Ridiculously cheap, but absolutely delicious, live local lobster.
Looking back from the boat at Puerto Ayora harbour.
These little storm petrels like to dance along the surface of the water just at the rear of the boat, scooping up the microscopic crustaceans that are channelled into a stream running alongside the hull.
The name petrel derives from Peter, with reference to Saint Peter walking across the water's surface.
It's actually nigh on impossible to differentiate between a great and a magnificent frigate bird, so I use the names interchangeably.
Prehistoric flight.
"Mmm, that looks like a tasty clump of lichen. Now, let me have a muse over whether I can be bothered to reach down and get it."
Our first stop was Punta Daylight on Isla Santa Maria to visit the giant tortoises in the wild.
"And you would not believe what he said then..."
Feels so good.
Still musing.
Whichever tortoise raises his head higher wins the fight. Looks clear who's the boss.
Giant tortoise, or small Michelle?
Sunbathing.
The islanders take their gods very seriously (notice the mustache).
A short sail round the same Isla Sant Maria brought us to Punta Cormoran. This bird is called a ruddy turnstone because it does exactly that, looking for its dinner under every ruddy little stone.
Despite appearances, this blue footed booby was flying forwards.
Proud to be a sea lion. There are no seals around the Galapagos Islands, even the so-called Galapagos fur seals are in fact sea lions.
"Not another picture?"
Getting ready for take-off.
"That's it: Wings back, beak up. You're doing fine."
Our home for 8 days. And very comfortable it was.
Love the way this whimbrel is surfing the sunset rays to home.
Spot the flamingo.
Apologies for anyone that spent more than a few seconds on the last photo... lol.
The first of many landscapes by high-dynamic range. HDR is a processing technique that combines two or more exposures into a single image. The idea is to take pictures at significantly different exposure values (brightnesses) to allow detail to be retrieved from area that would normally be under- or over-exposed. The "dynamic range" refers to the distance between the lightest and darkest pixels in the image, and "high" refers to extending this range. It can be useful just to fill in detail (photorealistic), but that can leave the image feeling very flat. An alternative is as shown here to create some interesting, surreal effects.
An overnight sail took us to Isla Española, the oldest and most southerly island, where we stopped at Punta Suarez.
Study material for February.
These adorable little pups are very playful.
Each island has its own sub-species of lava lizard each of which has evolved in their own unique way.
"Please daddy, I'm starving."
"Here you go son. Huuuuueeeerrrrgh."
These hawks may not be huge, but they can take an unprotected sea lion pup.
Dad trying to teach the sea lion chess.
These cheeky little fellas are everywhere and totally unafraid of people.
The fire worm - careful where you step! - attracted the attention of this lava lizard, who came to inspect but wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
Rough and tumble.
"Can I have a go?"