On Friday, I returned from a week of class on Santa Cruz, the most populous of the Galapagos Islands.  While the majority of the field trips we took over the week were geared towards the native/invasive plants class that all the kids in the Ecology/Evolution track are taking, everyone else seemed to join in on them.  Monday we arrived in the afternoon, after a final in the morning at GAIAS.  Unlike out spring break trip, all of us are staying at one hotel- Lobo Del Mar, right on the harbor.  I think it's safe to say I ended up in the best room of the place- at the back of the hotel's 3rd floor, opening onto a big balcony that overlooked the harbor, which we shared with a couple other rooms. 

 The next morning, we went to the Charles Darwin Foundation, one of, if not the, most iconic NGO on the islands.  We started the day listening to a panel of presenters- people who worked at the Foundation and told us about what they're involved with in the conservation of the park.  The two most interesting were on fishing and the mangrove finches.  Because of the population bloom on the island, the exploitation of the waters has increased dramatically, especially in the over-exploitation of sea cucumbers, which are highly sought-after in Asian markets.  The general consensus is that not enough is being done to make legislation to protect the fisheries, let alone enforce the legislation already in place.  The presentation on the mangrove finch was also interesting because it discussed the most endangered bird on the islands.  With fewer than 100 left in only 1 isolated colony on Isabela, the population is in grave danger of habitat destruction or a genetic bottleneck.  So far, efforts to combat invasive rats that raid nests have been successful, but attempts to relocate part of the population to start a second colony have failed.  The birds they moved simply flew back to the original colony, covering more distance than the researchers though possible.  

the loneliest of reptiles

After the presentations, we went to meet the single most iconic animal in the history of conservation:  Lonesome George.  The last of his species, the giant tortoises of Pinta Island will die with him.  In the 70s, after goats ravaged the landscape of that island, George was the only tortoise park rangers could find, and he was brought to Santa Cruz for his protection.  Since then, mating efforts with other species of giant tortoises have been unsuccessful.  When we saw him, he was at the back of his enclosure, almost out of view and motionless as we watched.

The next day, we traveled to Floreana, the smallest of the inhabited islands, with only 120 inhabitants, where we travelled to the highlands to  study the flora there, and check out an enclosure of giant tortoises there, where they were feeding.  It was a big group of them- 20 in total, spread between two feeding areas, where leafy vegetation was piled high.    The next day, we did a similar trip to the highlands of Santa Cruz, where there were no tortoises, but the views of hte island were better.  After hiking to the summit of a small mountain, surrounded by miconia (an endemic plant), ferns, and invasive red quinine, we could stand on the small volcanic cone and see all sides of the island- from the town in the south, Isabela far to the east, and Baltra, the nearby island with the main airport, directly to the north.  On the way down, it rained heavily the whole way, and our professor gave us plenty of amusement as he charged through puddles, splashing all of us, and yelling that his artificial knee made him RoboCop.

me with my homeboys

a mighty beast of the island

me in the natural grotto the first settlers of Floreana used as a goat pen

The morning of our last day on the island was free, before we returned to San Cristobal in the afternoon.  A group of us journeyed to Tortuga Bay, the closest beach to the town of Puerto Ayora, though it was still a 45 minute walk away- far by island standards.  After hiking the trail through coastal forest, we entered the first beach- a long expanse of sand, sea on the left, sand dunes on the right, roped off to preserve sea turtle breeding area.  All in all, it looked just like a beach on the NC coast.  After a long walk to the end of the beach (past baby sharks swimming in the shallows!  The coolest wildlife I saw that day), we reached Tortuga Bay, a calm, sheltered bay, expanding out like a lake.  The close end had a narrow beach, with fine grained white sand that extended into the water- it was the first beach without at least some volcanic rock on the bottom!  The side closer to the ocean had massive opuntia cacti growing, while the rest of it was ringed by mangroves.

 a statue carved by the Wittmer family when they colonized Floreana, in the 20s