Fernandina is the third largest island in the archipelago and the youngest of all islands at 700,000 years old (the oldest island is Española at 3.5 million years old). It is an active shield volcano, with the last eruption in 2009. Fernandina is the only Galápagos island which has no introduced mammals - all plants and animals had arrived naturally or evolved over time. It is famous for its large colonies of marine iguanas and as the habitat of unique species like the flightless cormorant, Galápagos hawk and Galápagos snake. (Source: Parque Nacional Galápagos)
Few boats visit Fernandina and it has only 1 visitor site - Punta Espinoza, where we started the day with a walk. During our short 3 minute dinghy ride, we saw 2 blue-footed boobies dive into the sea for fish, a large turtle and a ray swimming in the waters. A marine iguana colony and a sea lion awaited us on the lava rock and jetty respectively as we approached. There were so many things to follow!
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| Zzzzzzzz |
The marine iguana colonies were spread out on lava rocks next to the water and on a sandy beach near their nesting area, basking in the sun impassively. As we made our way on the lava rocks, we had to watch out for the dark reptiles in case we stepped on them. It was a curious sight as most did not seem to mind being part of a pyramid, with 2 or more iguanas stacked on top of each other. Dominant males, however, could be seen nodding their heads consistently and bullying others into giving clearance space around them.
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| Marine iguana colony sunning |
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| Facing the dangerous sea |
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| Volcan la Cumbre and marine iguanas |
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| You are in my space! |
Next to the sea, there are tide pools which allow baby and juvenile sea lions play in safe haven.
Video: Juvenile sea lions at play
Nearby, we watched a female sea lion being driven crazy by flies. We learnt that flies had recently caused serious issues to sea lions' eyes.
Video: Sea lion irritated by flies
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| Flies on sea lion while it bit a mangrove stem |
Video: Infant sea lion calling out to mum
Further away, we watched the unique flightless cormorants trying to mate (the males were trying) and nesting. The males would bring back presents such as seaweed and anything found from the sea to court the females. Native to the Galápagos, it is the only type of cormorant that has lost the ability to fly (its wings have evolved and shrunk to one third the size required to fly) in order to effectively dive in the sea.
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| Male flightless cormorant drying its tatty wing while female is nesting |
Our favourite sea lions stole the thunder from the romantic male cormorants as they interrupted Martha's presentation again:
Video: Sea lions went to sea
as male cormorant brought back present
and again:
Too funny!
My greatest find in Galápagos - I spotted a Fernandina snake as it swiftly made its way into a hole in the lava rocks. It was at least 1m - brilliant!
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| Fernandina snake |
The Fernandina Island also has the lava cacti, usually one of the first plants to colonise lava fields. The younger spines are yellow/greenish and turn grey and black as they age.
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| Lava cactus |
We finally saw the Galápagos hawk, a vulnerable resident of the island, with only 130 known breeding sites. It rounded up a great morning.
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| Galápagos snake |
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