Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
Of all the things we know about penguins, these flightless birds are most often associated with cold climates and, more often than not, ice. Although found in northern locations like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, we can make the intuitive link between those places and the cold expanses of the Southern Ocean. But what happens when we are forced to accept the odd juxtaposition of a penguin living and feeding around a geologically recent, equatorial volcano? Our brains fire off questions with the hopes that the truth will come out about this curious sighting. Today we saw just that as we swam and watched Galápagos penguins on the island of Bartolomé. We observed the small pied birds chasing silvery fish called salemas with speed and maneuverability that is rarely experienced by air-breathing vertebrates.
Swimming with penguins in the tropics seems like an absurd statement, yet today we did just that. The degree of separation between a Galápagos penguin and us has been shortened. Today we have removed the TV, the LCD screen and even the printed page. Our only division was saltwater. We have experienced all of this firsthand and we now have many, many stories to tell.
The Galápagos Islands have become known the world over because of the unique animals, but for me, one stands out more than any other. It’s fitting that we should spend the last part of such an amazing week watching an animal that has no counterpart on Earth. Penguins can be found in the Antarctic, giant tortoises on oceanic islands and cormorants, although burdened with the ability to fly, abound back home. But there is nothing else like a marine iguana anywhere.
As we say goodbye to the Islands and return home, we will remember the iguanas laying so still against the lava, heads held high towards the light from the setting sun.
