Today we spent the day surrounded by spectacular shield volcanoes as we were sailing over the hot spot of Galapagos. We visited three different volcanoes, Roca Redonda, Ecuador Volcano and Fernandina Volcano, and were surrounded by several more, all which stood out for us due to the beautifully clear, sunny weather. The landscape in the area is probably the most impressive, great black lava flows everywhere one looks. As we walked across a pahoehoe lava field, we had an unforgettable experience: seeing a newly born sea lion pup. It was so very young it had not yet learned to find its mother's nipples, and the poor mite was so confused it started suckling on her ears and flippers: it was hysterically funny!
Walking a little further down Fernandina's shoreline, we came across what we call an "iguana town": a pile of marine iguanas so large one could hardly distinguish where one animal began and the other ended! These are the oddest-looking creatures, as our picture shows, somewhat prehistoric monster-like, reminiscent of Godzilla. We sat awhile observing these creatures' funny behavior, such as sneezing the excess salt from the body through the salt glands that they have behind their nostrils. These animals are so unique that when Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos, he decided to experiment with them. He wanted, for example, to know how long a marine iguana could stay underwater, so he and one of the Beagles' seamen, through one in the water with a weight attached to it. Over an hour later, thinking it would probably be dead, he was amazed when on pulling it out it was still quite active! No, he was definitely not these unique creatures favorite scientist!
