Day 9, April 20: Imagining the past
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Española Island |
The heavy fog, steep cliffs, and rough seas around the western point of Española Island gave us a hint of the isolation and fear that early explorers must have felt when they first traveled to this uninhabited bunch of rocks, six hundred miles from the nearest port. Back at my computer I was inspired by that feeling to create grainy black-and-white versions of some of my photos, imagining I had shot them from the deck of the HMS Beagle.
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Marine Iguana in the surf
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Nazca Boobies
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The day brought us several new species. From our pangas we photographed White-vented Storm-Petrels, tiny seabirds that dance across the surface of the water, picking up bits of fish oil, plankton, and other edible debris with their beaks.
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White-vented Storm-Petrel
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Later we found a group of about twenty Waved Albatross floating together a few miles offshore. It’s almost breeding season, and they may spend a couple weeks out on the water like this, going to shore in the evenings. By end of April they will all be on shore building their nests and raising the next generation.
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Waved Albatross
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Waved Albatross
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After lunch, on the other side of the island, one member of the group photographed an Española Mockingbird pecking at a baby sea turtle that had not survived the dangerous walk from its nest to the water. Somehow nobody else had seen it, not even Tui. She said it’s a shot that she has been trying to get. For the rest of us, there were plenty of Española Mockingbirds without baby turtles, Española Lava Lizards, and other critters to keep us happy.
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Española Mockingbird |
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Española Mockingbird |
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Hermit Crab
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Galápagos Dove
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A Mockingbird catches a moth
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And a Lava Lizard does the same
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Galápagos Sea Lions
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Day 1: Photographers meet Galápagos
Day 2: We meet some new species
Day 3: Don't forget to preheat your camera!
Day 4: More snorkeling, more boobies, and our first snakes
Day 5: Eruption!
Day 6: Tortoises! Flamingoes!
Day 7: A trip to the Post Office
Day 8: Aw, poop!
Day 9: Imagining the past
Day 10: I need a break!
Day 11: The big city
Day 12: Iguana lips
Day 13: Lotsa lava
Day 14: Red sand, a mockingbird pedicure, and lizard sex
Day 15: Leaving Galápagos
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