The animals and plants here are wonderful to see. The number of species is not ‘very high’, but the diversity amongst them is high.
There are very few endemic, terrestrial, mammals, the Galapagos bat and a couple of rodents. There are lots of marine vertebrates though.
Last night after dinner, I wandered along the pier at Puerto Ayora which had lights illuminating the water, this attracted lots of fish, including juvenile blacktip shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis).
Often, the light attracts stingrays and marbled rays as well, but not last night. I will keep checking.
However, the most amusing animals by far were the two sealions, who had clambered onto the pier, via the gantries used to access boats, to take up residence where ever they pleased, and were happily entertaining passers by.
Clearly it had been a long day at the office for this chap….
The animals here are particularly charismatic, and part of that is due to their complete lack of fear. The lava heron (Butorides sundevalli, but maybe a juvenile striated heron) below wandered in front of me, to take up the position above the sharks, I may as well not have been there.
Darwin noted that this was a potential problem, in the Voyage of the Beagle. He made the point that should the islands be invaded by a non-native species, this could have devastating effects on the