We had another wonderful day on Floreana Island, during which my highlight was the snorkeling around Champion Islet. While snorkeling we saw a lot of beautiful and colorful tropical fish as well as green sea turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and large gangs of playful young sea lions.
The Galapagos Islands have an interesting mix of tropical and temperate types of fish. Water temperatures are known to fluctuate from a cool 15 degrees C to a warm 29 degrees C, depending on time of year and site, thus providing a range of temperature regimes.
Fish are divided into two main groups: the cartilaginous fishes, which include the sharks and rays, and the bony fishes, which include those we normally think of as fishes.
Some 306 species of fish are found in Galapagos waters of which a quarter are endemic forms, one of the highest levels of endemism in the world. There are only a few small, and not very diverse, coral formations, but the vesicular nature of the lava rocks and the crevices they form provide abundant shelter near the shores, and the open water is nutrient rich and swarming with life due to the upwelling currents. Most Galapagos waters are still unexplored and new species continue to be discovered.
