Galapagos - Adventures of an English “Marine Aquarist”!

[Mariette]

That's so cool!!

Thx. That moment is engraved permanently in my brain. It was amazing

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Cannot wait for this.

 

[ReefQueen]

Following so I can live vicariously through you! If you’re bringing home souvenirs, I’ll take a tortoise and an iguana please lol.

 

[SPR1968]

Following so I can live vicariously through you! If you’re bringing home souvenirs, I’ll take a tortoise and an iguana please lol.

lol!

Thanks for following the journey

The iguanas are actually really cute, and the tortoise, they just look at you and amble around, beautiful....

Lots of pictures to follow

 

[SPR1968]

Just going back slightly to Quito, Here are a few pictures of the hotel we stayed in. Very basic but rustic and homely.......




Also I forgot to mention the emotions I experienced when arriving at Galapagos. It was very strange.

I can honestly and truthfully say, the very moment the wheels touched down, I had a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes. I’m not joking here and I don’t know we’re it came from but there you go.

Galapagos, we had arrived......

 

[Mariette]

I know he feelings man. It’s an emotional amazing awe inspiring moment. I mean, it’s the Galápagos Islands! I was in awe the entire trip start to finish.

 

[LuizW13]

I like the look of that hotel!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Looks like such an awesome trip!

 

[SPR1968]

It was a little cloudy the first day as you can see, but this cleared up.

After a short bus ride from Baltra Airport we arrived at the crossing to the main island Santa Cruz. Our baggage was taken to the boat separately and we crossed the water on a small boat



And then we were introduced to one of the locals, who seemed a little sleepy....

 

[RichtheReefer21]

It was a little cloudy the first day as you can see, but this cleared up.

After a short bus ride from Baltra Airport we arrived at the crossing to the main island Santa Cruz. Our baggage was taken to the boat separately and we crossed the water on a small boat



And then we were introduced to one of the locals, who seemed a little sleepy....

Gonna need a few things...

Water temp
Ph
Salinity
Po4
No3
Ca
dKh
Mg

Thanks

 

[Janci]

Gonna need a few things...

Water temp
Ph
Salinity
Po4
No3
Ca
dKh
Mg

Thanks

 

[cheras]

I was born in Ecuador and had the pleasure of visiting the islands in 2010 and this past December. Even though I have visited most of the places there's always a reason to go back. In the Galápagos everyone does the best to protect the animals and that's why most are extremely peaceful. One of my best experiences was snorkeling at Pinzón Island seeing sharks (the ones that won't eat you) sea turtles, dolphins, sea lions, and all kinds of fish. It is truly an amazing experience. I hope everything is going well with your trip and hopefully it's not the last time you visit Galápagos.

 

[PanchoG]

I want to take a nap like that!

 

[SPR1968]

Gonna need a few things...

Water temp
Ph
Salinity
Po4
No3
Ca
dKh
Mg

Thanks

I tested and confirm the results were absolutely perfect! lol

As you would expect

 

[SPR1968]

was snorkeling at Pinzón Island seeing sharks (the ones that won't eat you)

This is the precise reason, and no thanks to a Mr Speilberg, why i don't snorkel when i am not the Apex predator ! lol

My brain has an inbuilt 'flight', over developed run away and self protection mechanism!

 

[stevewright1]

looks like an excellent adventure to me

I agree with your philosophy on sharks - they don't come to my home uninvited, so Ill avoid going to theirs .

 

[SPR1968]

We then encountered a few very large tortoises......

 

[RichtheReefer21]

We then encountered a few very large tortoises......

Each island has different unique terrain and vegetation. And thus, each island has it's own tortoise species variations that specifically evolved that one lineage of tortoise to be specially designed for reach island.

Long neck, vs short neck etc.... the ecosystems are each their own little world... amazing.

 

[SPR1968]

Thats exactly correct

The shells are slightly different shapes and have evolved depending on the source of food and height etc

One of the centres we visited had a selection of the different shells from different species and you could see the difference very clearly

Ive got some pictures of tortoises from a different island so ill post them next to each other later on so we can see if there is a noticeable difference

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Thats exactly correct

The shells are slightly different shapes and have evolved depending on the source of food and height etc

One of the centres we visited had a selection of the different shells from different species and you could see the difference very clearly

Ive got some pictures of tortoises from a different island so ill post them next to each other later on so we can see if there is a noticeable difference

Ask about the species differentiation in the birds. Theres an evolution being studied right now where a color morph is happening to a specific specie that is completely black in some areas, and then identical species with a color morph in progress through that particular islands local colonies.

Truely an example of Darwinism in action. Amazing geek stuff. My domain.