Summer 1991
Volume three
Number 3

Galapagos

Holy hammerheads, what a trip!!

and hammerheads...hundreds of them... truly thousands of them, were only part of the main event we were treated to this past spring in the Galapagos. If it swam, we probably saw it. Particularly if it was big and it swam. Schools of powerful Galapagos sharks were prevalent throughout our six week stay. We had whale sharks as well, marlin, divers swimming with dolphin, dolphin swimming with hammerheads, hammerheads swimming with turtles, turtles swimming through schools of barracuda. We even got in the water with Sperm Whales!! That's right! (O.K., o.k., we never actually got close enough to see them underwater. But we did find a huge pod, and there really were sperm whales everywhere. We did in fact approach them and we actually did get in the water. So we were "in the water" with them, just as I said. We just never could get within visual range underwater, that's all.)

To give you a bit of the flavor of the Galapagos, I'll share some entries from my log of the tours. First dive of the first trip: "Great dive! Several Galapagos sharks, many jacks, snapper, tuna, big hammerhead, turtle, ray, lots of bait fish. Clear water under thermocline. Wonderful sea lions, very playful. Schools of Pompano jacks." Mind you, this was how we started on the first day!

It got better:

"Swirls of current on the surface. Water calm otherwise. Great masses of fish, snapper, tuna, jacks, barracuda. Swam south at about 60 to 70 ft. Lots of sharks, all kinds of fish. Giant school of barracuda in shallows. Sea lion swam right under school. Hammerheads and Galapagos sharks swimming together right through barracuda. Fabulous dive with good vis. Water around 65 to 68 degrees." And so it went: "More shark action. Huge schools of tuna. Turtles, rays. Consistent cleaning activity by many species of hammerheads, turtles and rays, often side by side! Big amberjacks. Billions of Creole fish--huge biomass. Galapagos sharks, about a dozen."

It's not easy diving, at least much of the time. The currents can be strong and certain areas do have big surge frequently. In other words, you may have to work for your photos. But after all, mountain climbers struggle to achieve their special view from the top of the world. Such experiences are not handed to us on a silver platter, but never have we been to a place which delivers so many remarkable underwater events on such a regular basis.

As amazing above the surface as below...

If the Galapagos only offered these undersea spectacles, it would be well worth whatever it takes to get there. But the Galapagos are blessed with natural phenomenon above the surface, as well as below, making this perhaps the most richly textured program available anywhere. Indeed, the underwater attractions of the Galapagos have only recently been discovered. Our schedule allowed us numerous opportunities to experience and photograph the unique above water flora and fauna of these islands, particularly during the early portion of the tour. This works out quite well, in practice, for at the beginning of the trip, as guests recover from jet lag and acclimate to the cooler water and often more challenging conditions than they are accustomed to, balancing the diving with land tours proved both popular and wise. As the trip progressed and we moved to more remote areas where landfalls are virtually impossible (and not allowed anyhow), we adopted a total dive schedule. In the last couple of days, as we return to the central part of the archipelago, we were able to get back on shore for some more intriguing and educational island explorations.

Frigates, hawks, & boobies!

The bird life is fascinating to witness. Magnificent frigates nesting, with proud males puffing their brilliant red chests into huge balloons to attract females; bluefoot boobies laying eggs right on the foot trails; Galapagos hawks perched on high, ever watchful; lava herons stalking the shoreline, searching for unwary crabs; the comical waved albatross, with their clumsy, crash landings... the film went fast!

We even had the exhilarating, though heart rending experience of watching a nest of green sea turtles being born. Alerted by a frigate circling, then diving above a beautiful white beach, we ran to the target area and searched carefully. There, barely visible, was a tiny 1/2" long flipper protruding from the sand, unmoving, its owner waiting for the sun to set. Patiently we watched and waited and after a bit the flipper moved slightly, gradually becoming more active, until a little head poked through the sand and eventually out wiggled a newborn baby turtle. We named him Bob. Then soon followed another, then two and three at a time.

Shortly infant turtles were virtually erupting

by the score from this beach nest, scrambling everywhere, flip-flopping in crazy circles while trying to orient themselves toward the sea just 75 ft away. But their leader made one mortal mistake, for the sun was still above the horizon and dozens of frigates now circled hungrily overhead. In frenzied waves they dove upon the defenseless, confused little turtles, plucking their soft dark bodies off the light powdery sand with startling speed and lethal, unerring accuracy.

We did our best to cheat,

...though knowing one shouldn't interfere with natural events. But sea turtles are endangered, after all, and frigates aren't. And we humans are basically at fault for the sea turtle's predicament in the first place. So we tried in our small, ineffective way to give them a helping hand in their frantic race for life. Waving our arms and shouting while running around, we were able to keep the frigates away for the most part, as the tiny turtles waddled their way toward the water. Their little flippers churned every which way while they tried, in their first bewildering moments of existence, to figure out how to coordinate their unwieldy appendages. Some fast learners made straight for the small breaking waves, while others steered corkscrew courses as they scrambled and tumbled down the sand embankment. But with our help, the majority made it to the water. In they plunged, energized, it seemed, by the cool wet foam breaking over their shells, and bravely they swam forward into watery oblivion, into an ocean that previously existed only in their genetic memory.

Then the real carnage began. Frustrated frigates fell from the sky like a meteor shower, their long hooked beaks cleanly snatching succulent young turtles from the ocean's surface as they swooped across the water. Never touching feather to wave, they would hurtle skyward with the squirming babies hanging from their bills, flippers still beating madly back and forth. The hatchlings never had time to learn to dive, their only possible escape from these powerful birds of prey. Out to sea and out of our reach, we could only watch in awe and sadness as every last turtle was picked off. They never had a chance. They simply emerged too soon from their nest.

We stood in stunned silence

as the last frigate rose into the sky, its beak clutching its still wiggling victim, and we heard the first, and I suspect last utterance from this tiny turtle as it was carried off: "Way to go, Bob!!"

Later, the partially digested baby turtles would be regurgitated into the gaping, mouths of hungry young frigate chicks, and this fascinating cycle of nature would continue.

"It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black color, stupid, and sluggish in its movements."

Other than the giant land tortoises, from which the Galapagos Islands get their name, there is probably no more widely recognized symbol of this paradoxical place than the enigmatic marine iguana. Of the marine iguanas, Charles Darwin said this about them: "It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black color, stupid, and sluggish in its movements." (So other than that, Chuck, what did you find so attractive about them?) Well, he might be right. But on closer examination, the marine iguana may yet have some attributes which should make us all envious. Consider this: the male marine iguana has not one, but two penises. The truth is, I am not sure what good this actually does, and it could be one of those things that only sounds like it might be wonderful, but in the final analysis has no practical value. We may never know, and marine iguanas don't talk about it, as they are not generally given to bragging. In fact, they don't do much of anything very often except lie in the sun to regulate their by temperature. It appears that this particular blessing might well go simply wasted on the marine iguana. Nature works in strange ways.

 ...the world's only aquatic iguanas

Marine iguanas also eat; algae primarily. And it is in search of this algae that the marine iguanas gained their unique ability to dive underwater, becoming the world's only aquatic iguanas. They also supplement their diet with sea lion feces, of which there is generally an abundance. I suppose this is a good thing for iguanas to eat, though it doesn't do much for their breath. Their courtship ritual is fairly uncomplicated and direct, as one might suspect. The male simply circles the female, nodding frequently, while grinning somewhat foolishly. Apparently it works quite well, as there are thousands of these lizards everywhere. However, I am not endorsing this method, or even suggesting that a similar technique will work for you. I simply pass this information along, as some of you may find it useful. Indeed, one guest has subsequently reported rather gratifying results, though it involved his wife and therefore was not, perhaps, a true test. But do let us know. Well, I could go on, but you get the picture.

The Galapagos is a place unlike any other.

For diving, it's not a walk in the park. It is a true wilderness experience. Expect the unexpected. We had water temperatures ranging from 80 to 61 degrees (often just days apart), visibility that went from 200 ft. to 30 ft., calm water and rough water. It is a pelagic extravaganza without equal. So much so that one often overlooks the startling close-up and macro opportunities, of which there are many. It's all there, just take your pick.

The terrestrial wildlife, on the other hand, is very accessible to both young and old, fit and feeble, and it's a nature photographer's dream. It is not a matter of finding the animals, but rather than a problem of not stepping on them.

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