Today we are still in the Galapagos! (You didn’t think we
were only going for one day, did you?)
We began our day with an early morning hike on Bartolome Island, hiking up lots of stairs. At the top of the dormant volcano, we found this small Galapagos Ground Finch.
The large number of slight variations in the Finches from several
different Galapagos Islands helped Charles Darwin find proof for the Origin
of Species, commonly known as Evolution. The Finches on four different
Galapagos Islands evolved with small but distinct differences that Darwin
observed.
Later in the day, we saw our first Galapagos Penguin. He was
really fuzzy and showed off by swimming around us several times. Hit the play
button to see him swim!
Then we went to Rabida Island and saw loads more
Sea Lions! (N!O!T!!!S!E!A!L!S!) We also found Legless Joe, a Sally Lightfoot
Crab that lost a leg to a hungry fish. The name Sally Lightfoot comes from a
woman with a red wig that danced for people on boats. The brightly colored crab
reminded sailors on the HMS Beagle of Ms. Lightfoot.
You may recall that the HMS Beagle is the ship that Darwin
sailed on as the official naturalist from 1831 until 1836. Our boat is a little
more modern than the Beagle. The boat is named the National Geographic
Islander.
1 comment:
The place where we saw and smelled sea lions was the Beagle Channel around the tip of South America. It was named for Darwin and the boat he used. Where on your boat are you sleeping-which deck? Are the rest of the human animals onboard as nice as the Cheek/Barnetts? Looks like you are learning so much and seeing such interesting things. Loved the penguin swimming!
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