Sea Lion Bulls can weigh up to 250 kg and become quite aggressive in
time of mating.Females are much smaller and sexually mature at 5 years.They can live up to 20 years
The marine iguanas on Española are
the most colorful, especially in the mating season
when the colors of the males become much more intense.
Males become territorial and aggressive in the mating season.A fight by head butting between males to establish dominancy.
Female marine iguanas
are greyish and much smaller. They dig holes into the
soil to lay their fertilized eggs.
Male Blue-Footed Booby courtships by spreading its wings, bowing
and whistling.Chicks are very fluffy and look sometimes bigger than their parents.
Masked Boobies are the largest of the three booby species with
the female being bigger than the males.Females lay two eggs but only one chick survives. The larger
chick pushes out the younger one from the nest marked by guana (bird
shit) droppings. Once the chick is outside the circle, it is not fed by
the mother anymore and dies eventually of starvation or being eaten by a
predator.
Plants in the dry coastal regions are often low growing with
succulent and small leaves.
Lava Lizards also arrived from South America and radiated into seven
distinct species with the specie on Hood being the largest.
Males are always larger than females, which have a distinct
red head.
Rock cliffs are ideal nesting sites
for many sea birds.
Swallow-tailed Gulls are endemic to the Galapagos and number in the
thousands.They are the only nocturnal
gulls in the world feeding at night.That's why they have larger eyes
compared to other gull species.
Galapagos hawks are found on most islands and feed on reptiles
and carrion.Yellow-crowned Night Heron feeds at night as its name suggest.
Waved Albatross nest in the thousands on Española
island from April to December.They engage in a highly complex courtship ritual which often lasts some
20 minutes. Bill clicking is part of that ceremony.
The albatross in flight. To take off they have
to drop first and use the updraft to get airborne.
Another attraction on the island is a blow hole with spouts of up to
20m.Water gets pushed by waves into the rocky shore and gets ejected through
holes into the air.
