Genovesa Island
The Galápagos: a remote archipelago, located 600 miles from the tropical American mainland, notably the country of Ecuador. The country is thus named for its geographical location, as both the mainland and its offshore islands straddle the 0° latitude line – in fact, on our week cruising through the Galápagos on board the friendly Polaris, we have crossed the equator line a total of 6 times.
The seemingly small, relatively low-rising islands are actually just the tips of enormous submarine volcanoes. The extremely active underlying hotspot has, over millions of years, left a trail of these volcanoes along the Nazca tectonic plate.
The islands are born of fire and baked by the hot tropical sun, yet their shorelines are bathed by cool, rich temperate waters. It is this contradiction that lies at the very heart of the strange, unique ecosystems of the Galápagos. There are three main currents that travel along the equator and through the archipelago: the cold, nutrient-depleted waters of the Humboldt Current from the south, the even colder but nutrient rich water of the Cromwell Undercurrent from the west and the warm, nutrient-poor waters from the north. The heterogeneous nature of the currents affecting the islands have created a total of 5 main distinguishable eco-regions throughout the archipelago and as we explored this week both on land and in the sea, we could clearly feel and observe the differences between these regions.
Today we entered the northern realm of the Galápagos Archipelago as we travelled up to Genovesa Island. As we snorkelled, we noticed the waters were significantly warmer than we had previously encountered, and there was a much higher representation of more tropical species such as parrot fish and Moorish idols (the northern islands are also the domain of the famous hammerheads, especially if one goes as far up as Wolf and Darwin Islands). On our land visit, surrounded by the hoards of tropical sea birds that inhabit the island often dubbed “Bird Island,” we were also struck by the difference in the marine iguanas here: tiny versions of their dragon-like relatives of the west, unable to reach larger sizes due to the lack of the rich algal mats in the tropical northern Galápagos.
The climate of the archipelago is on the verge of turning as the cool, dry season is drawing to a close, and already we can feel the difference here in the north: practically the only day this week the tropical sun was really out and shining.
In fact, it never ceases to amaze me just how diverse such a relatively small area can be: everyday has been its own, unique experience.
The Galápagos: a remote archipelago, located 600 miles from the tropical American mainland, notably the country of Ecuador. The country is thus named for its geographical location, as both the mainland and its offshore islands straddle the 0° latitude line – in fact, on our week cruising through the Galápagos on board the friendly Polaris, we have crossed the equator line a total of 6 times.
The seemingly small, relatively low-rising islands are actually just the tips of enormous submarine volcanoes. The extremely active underlying hotspot has, over millions of years, left a trail of these volcanoes along the Nazca tectonic plate.
The islands are born of fire and baked by the hot tropical sun, yet their shorelines are bathed by cool, rich temperate waters. It is this contradiction that lies at the very heart of the strange, unique ecosystems of the Galápagos. There are three main currents that travel along the equator and through the archipelago: the cold, nutrient-depleted waters of the Humboldt Current from the south, the even colder but nutrient rich water of the Cromwell Undercurrent from the west and the warm, nutrient-poor waters from the north. The heterogeneous nature of the currents affecting the islands have created a total of 5 main distinguishable eco-regions throughout the archipelago and as we explored this week both on land and in the sea, we could clearly feel and observe the differences between these regions.
Today we entered the northern realm of the Galápagos Archipelago as we travelled up to Genovesa Island. As we snorkelled, we noticed the waters were significantly warmer than we had previously encountered, and there was a much higher representation of more tropical species such as parrot fish and Moorish idols (the northern islands are also the domain of the famous hammerheads, especially if one goes as far up as Wolf and Darwin Islands). On our land visit, surrounded by the hoards of tropical sea birds that inhabit the island often dubbed “Bird Island,” we were also struck by the difference in the marine iguanas here: tiny versions of their dragon-like relatives of the west, unable to reach larger sizes due to the lack of the rich algal mats in the tropical northern Galápagos.
The climate of the archipelago is on the verge of turning as the cool, dry season is drawing to a close, and already we can feel the difference here in the north: practically the only day this week the tropical sun was really out and shining.
In fact, it never ceases to amaze me just how diverse such a relatively small area can be: everyday has been its own, unique experience.
