Galapagos Day 7 - Don´t touch (or feed) the wildlife!

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After difficulty waking (Ana) up the next morning, we headed out to South Plaza Island. Ana (and Carlos, of course) napped on the bus and on the boat (good thing the boat had eight beds). Jorge was marginally easier to understand this time around as the group somehow convinced him to give explanations in Spanish at least part of the time. His behavior, though, was perplexing. Especially for a trained guide in the Galápagos National Park.

Our group was enjoying the walk along South Plaza Island. The foliage formed a red carpet over much of the island. Cactus, land iguanas, and sea lions were plentiful. Then Jorge started explaining a bit about the land iguanas´diet. They eat the reddish vegetation and supplement their diet with cactus (for water). The iguanas do not climb and must wait for the cactus leaves (?) to fall. Too much cactus, though, makes the iguanas go blind (mescaline accumulation).

To help explain how an iguana eats the cactus, Jorge pulled a leaf off a cactus plant and threw it towards two iguanas. He was upset when the larger iguana grabbed the leaf and ran off with it. Jorge remarked, "Hey, that was enough cactus for the two iguanas!" WE were stunned that a trained Galápagos guide was feeding the wildlife. People are supposed to be helping keep the animals wild. If people keep feeding the wildlife, they may eventually became dependent on humans and stop foraging. It happens with bears in the US.

After the walk on the island, it was time to head to Punta Carrion on Santa Cruz Island for some snorkeling. We had lunch on board. After lunch, Ryan saw Jorge feeding chicken scraps to the frigatebirds! There´s video if you don´t believe it. The frigates followed our boat for a while, looking for more food. Frigates are nicknamed "pirates" because they steal food from other birds. The frigates are very fast, but don´t dive for fish. The frigates can´t dive. They don´t have a waterproof oil coating for their feathers.

When we arrived at Punta Carrion, Jorge jumped in ahead of the group to see if there were any white-tipped sharks in the cove. He spotted some and waved the group over. The shark had hidden under a rock. This, however, was no problem for Jorge. He just yanked on the shark until it revealed itself to the group. Later, he spotted a Manta ray and yanked on it, too, for good measure.

We did get to see a lot of impressive wildlife that day. However, we questioned our guides methods. Touching and feeding the wildlife. It didn´t seem to jive. We were reminded of something that Cheche (our guide to North Seymour) had said as he explained the park rules (stay on the path, don´t touch the animals, don´t feed the animals, etc). In Cheche´s experience, foreigners are usually better at following the park rules than Ecuadorians are. Cheche explained at least one reason why it is important not to touch the wildlife: sea lion mothers recognize their pups by scent; if a human has touched a pup, the mother will no longer recognize it and the pup will starve. We saw a few sea lion pup carcasses on South Plaza. Maybe that´s what happened to them. Maybe not. Even though many of the animals on the islands are cute, they´re not pets. They´re wild and should be treated with respect.

Anyhow, back in Puerto Ayora. After dinner, our group decided to head out to a bar to hang out. Almost the whole group made it out this time. The only one missing was Cece, who was absorbed in the latest Harry Potter book and could not be pried away (several people tried unsuccessfully). We had a good time chatting, playing foozball, etc. Our time in the Galápagos would soon be over. The trip wasn´t what we had expected, but we got to see a fair bit of it and met some great people along the way. Hopefully we´ll get to see the islands and the members of group again.

WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS: Frigatebirds, Brown pelicans, Blue-footed boobies, Audobon's shearwater, Elliot's storm petrel, Swallow-tailed gull, Red-billed tropicbirds, Common Noddy, Lava Heron, Yellow warbler, Darwin's finches, Black sea turtle, Marine iguana (hassi subspecies), Land iguana, Lava lizards, Sea lions, Manta ray, White-tipped shark, fish, Sally Lightfoot crabs, shrimp, Galapagos grasshopper

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Photos

Marine Iguana
Marine iguanas have shorter snouts than land iguanas to help them feed on the algae.