We left Baltra Island well after dark and journeyed overnight to Santiago Island. Here is a complicated mass of ash and spatter cones and blocks of tephra now being eroded by the sea in addition to differential weathering along the guano spattered cliff sections. We witnessed this in Buccaneer Cove on the northwest coast of the island. There is evidence of more rainfall here with water-cut ravines and alluvial fans along the higher slopes. Whalers from the eastern seaboard of the USA and England came here between 1684 and 1864 destroying the tortoise population for food and oil. It is estimated that 40 whaling ships killed, each season 300 tortoises amounting to around 66,000 over that period. Also Corsairs (professional pirates) had permission from the invading Spanish to raid passing ships of their cargo.
A Green Sea Turtle
Marine iguanas are present on Santiago Island, though their populations were once decimated by invasive species. The subspecies on Santiago is predominantly green, and while they were nearly extinct on the island, they are now a visible part of the ecosystem, particularly along the rocky shores. We didn’t land here and so it was diffucult to find any.
After lunch we repositioned to Puerto Egas on James Bay, a landing point of Darwin. Some settlers lived here and produced salt from the evaporating sea water that filled the volcanic craters or from the lagoon behind the black beach. We saw sea lions, pelicans and many birds and lizards.
The Great Blue Heron is the largest of the Galápagos herons and is a voracious predator.
Galápagos Sea Lion and young
