Española Island
We started the day off with a walk on Punta Suarez. We were greeted by many Española marine iguanas and many Galápagos sea lion pups that were resting at the beach while their mothers were fishing. We also observed many bird species, such as juvenile blue-footed boobies, Darwin finches and Española mockingbirds that didn’t move away from us; it was a magical moment for all our visitors, as this was something they had never experienced before. The innocence of the creatures in Galápagos Is a fact we are proud of, after witnessing our guests enjoying nature in its prime in our remote archipelago.
The great old Island of Española, due to its beauty and diversity, is probably one of the most visited islands of the archipelago. Also known as Hood by ancient mariners, this island was unfortunately one of the natural stores for fresh meat for those who traveled to the farthest points of the Pacific in search of whales. The land tortoises of Española almost became extinct because of this systematic extraction; most of the animals that were removed were females.
When the Galápagos National Park (GNP) noticed the critical situation of the tortoises’ population on the island nearly 50 years ago, some of the best efforts for the conservation of this rare species where applied. The surviving tortoises were collected and then transported to the GNP headquarters for reproduction in captivity. After many decades we have notable changes in this emblematic place, where only fourteen tortoises once survived. Nowadays, close to two thousand tortoises have been repatriated to Española. Isn’t this effort amazing?
The afternoon activities offered many options, and most of our friends took them all. At the beach we observed a large amount of Galápagos sea lions resting, after being in the water many hours searching for food. Many people think they are lazy, but in fact the sea lions are recovering energy after burning a lot of oxygen during their fast and prolonged foraging dives.
And how to forget the curious Española mockingbirds that followed us at all times! These birds are one of the four species of mockingbirds in Galápagos. After realizing that these amusing birds are not afraid of humans, we concluded that this is a good sign, and that despite the recent human intervention, they have, fortunately, not lost their naiveté.
