Darwin’s Footsteps

Evolution of Darwin 

In 1831, a fundamentalist captain of a ship Beagle hired a 22 year old creationist biologist, named Charles Darwin to accompany him on a 5 year trip to map the longitudes of the world. The ship traveled thousands of miles and Darwin observed the wildlife of the mainland and of the islands in the ocean. He collected, observed and interpreted the fauna, flora and geology. He found woodpeckers where there were no trees and geese with webbed feet, which never went near water. Huge turtles traveling on their highways and finches whose beaks varied according to whatever they ate. He had stumbled upon the most marvelous evolutionary laboratories on the planet: the Galapagos. Darwin stayed there only five weeks. He returned back to England and analyzed the beaks of the finches (and later termed Darwin finches) and how they had responded to the natural environment. He analyzed the variation of individuals under nature and under domestication, the “descent with modification” of this variation under survival by “natural selection” and by human domestication. Those individuals which have an advantage to stay alive to successfully reproduce are the ones that pass on their traits to the next generation, subsequently, becoming more dominant. The Galapagos finches provided an excellent example of this process. Among the birds that ended up in arid environments, the ones with beaks better suited for eating cactus got more food and were in better condition to mate.  Those with beak shapes that were better suited to getting nectar from flowers or eating hard seeds in other environments were at an advantage.  Unlike Lamark, Darwin did not believe that the environment was producing the variation, but just naturally selecting the dominant points of the variation. He very patiently waited 23 years, analyzing and patiently sifting through vast amounts of data and published an authoritative thesis The Origin of Species. Darwin had evolved into an evolutionist. He gently and firmly made his position on the heretical controversial issue very clear. It sold out the first day. The Origin didn’t just replace the current scientific thought, it rejected the widely held cultural view. Not since Galileo had moved the center of the universe had someone so authoritatively challenged The Genesis. It transformed attitudes towards creator(s) and humans. And it still continues to be challenged in school boards. Having read The Origin of Species and visited the Galapagos with Anav, Amal and Reena it was impossible not to feel inspired. Under the starry equatorial sky, having seen the drama among the Galapagos shark, the sea lion and the pelican in the bioluminescent waters it was impossible not to feel the power of simple curiosity.

Itinerary and the trip

The Galapagos is an archipelago situated 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. It's not the sort of place that you just "discover" without expecting to--it takes time and effort. But it is worth every second, every frustration, and every paisa. The Galapagos archipelago sits right on the Equator. You would expect it to be tropical like Hawaii (and that is the first question which springs to mind), but in fact there is little rain, so the land is dry, and hardy plants like the prickly pear cactus trees are found all over. Moreover, during the winter months--the "garua" season--it's not even all that warm here, not what you would expect of an equatorial climate. Visitors are often taken by surprise and are unprepared for the cool nights and mild, overcast days. The Humbolt and Cromwell ocean currents both bring cold water to the archipelago, making it an attractive place for certain cold-water animals such as penguins, and also for ocean going animals like schooling hammerhead sharks.

 

We encountered animals so unafraid of people that we sometimes had to step over them to follow the trails mapped out on the islands. They would look us in the eye, seeming to challenge us to understand their place in the world and ours and the relationship between the two. We found ourselves among sandy beaches, stony beaches, rocky shores, soaring cliffs, crater lakes, lava fields, submerged calderas, crashing waves, placid lagoons, sunsets and moonrises, and a microcosm of Earth in perpetual reinvention.

The following was the itinerary

1. Day 1 Baltra - Bachas
2. Day 2 Plazas - Santa Fe
3. Day 3 Española: Pta Suarez - Bahia Gadner
4. Day 4 Floreana: Pta Cormorant
5. Day 5 Santa Cruz: Pto Ayora - Est. Charles Darwin - Highlands
6. Day 6 Rabida - Sombrero Chino
7. Day 7 Bartolome - Caleta Tortuga Negra
8. Day 8 North Seymour – Baltra

We landed at Baltra airport and paid our $100/person entrance fee and met Luis our guide from the boat Yolita (our Beagle) At the boat we met our other boat members from the US, Singapore, France, Canada and Switzerland. Our daily routine was breakfast at 7:00am, hike on the island from 7:30-9:00am. Usually snorkeling later during the morning, lunch at noon, another excursion or snorkeling at 3-4pm, briefing by Luis at 6:30pm on next day activities and any ocean biology and dinner by 7pm. The cook surprised us with innovative dishes and drinks everyday. The order of events is a little fuzzy in my head so I will just describe the experience in no particular order. The underwater experience was also quite a key. I and Reena had the option of scuba diving a couple of days, instead we chose not to. Luis assured us that snorkeling and free diving would give us the same visibility as would a regular dive. If we had meandered to far out islands such as Genovesa or Darwin/Wolfe would we get a different experience while scuba diving. No visit to the Galapagos is really complete without getting into the water to see the amazing diversity of life, including the endemic species the islands are home to. We had several opportunities to swim with the sea lions and penguins. The water is cold, and even snorkelers wear neoprene wetsuits. There are significant currents (Humboldt) and surges, and at certain sites, underwater photographers need to anchor themselves down with special hooks in order to have at least one hand free to shoot a picture. All photos were taken with a Canon 350D and three lens, 50mm 1.8, 28-75mm 2.8, 75-300mm 4.5-6. Amal carried a Canon G2. For underwater we investigated Canon camera housings, but finally ended up getting a simple UW camera.

Boat life. When we first stepped on the boat and got our little bunk beds, the thing which came to our mind is how do we keep Anav strapped on the boat. After all, he hardly knows how to walk, walks like a drunkard on regular land. What would we do when we got on deck, where you could easily slip below the railings? Each day the boat would travel 6hrs (sometimes 8hrs) to the next island. And unlike the photos you see, the sea was quite rough. We had to close the windows since there was a lot of surf splashing on deck. We had rules for Amal running or stepping on the sides of the boat without an adult watch.

On Suarez, we see the land iguanas. They are more yellow/brown and much larger than the sea iguanas we have seen. Luis tells about hybrid iguanas which are mix between the land and the sea iguanas. They cant reproduce however. (and this was an integral part of proof by elimination by Darwin, who painstakingly spent a lot of time eliminating evolution through hybrid propagation). The landscape is very beautiful with many tall cacti (they have hard prickles since the iguanas eat them) and red ground vegetation. There are big sea lion colonies, and on the cliffs (15-20 meters up) to the south-east, all the rejected males (who have lost the fights) recover to be able to take up the fight again. There are also lots of boobies and swallowtail gulls. We look for the cactus finch, but they are all small beaked and ground finches. We also see a 1m tall great blue heron, Audubon's sheerwater, marine iguanas and lava lizards.

We get to a blow hole, where the water is blown 25m up in the air every time the water comes in. Further on we see our first waved albatross in her nest. It has a wingspan of 2 m. Just before returning, we see a Galapagos hawk in a bush 5 meters away. It is quite big - 50 cm tall with a 1m wingspan, and there are only 100 couples of this endemic species.

Charles Darwin Research Centre: We see Lonesome George. In the corral which is open, the Giant Tortoises are quite lively. Lonesome George is in a corral next to the open corral, and this time he is out. He is a bit shy, and pull back its head, but after standing still and quiet for a time, he extents out his head to reconnoiter. It is a special feeling to see an animal which is the last of its kind. There is a chance the Pinta-Giant Tortoise will survive via artificial insemination.

Black Turtle Cove, which is a mangrove. In the trees are many magnificent frigate birds, and there are common egrets, brown noddis on the rocks. The water is very clear, and we quickly spot the first sea turtles in the water - and soon after white tipped reef sharks, spotted eagle rays and sting rays. It is an amazing place. We also see a few sting rays, which are big, black ones. One is 1½ meter wide! We stay a couple of places for a total of 1½ hours and see maybe 50 white tipped sharks, and at least as many rays and sea-turtles. And it is so quiet in the mangroves and lot of Reena’s effort is focused on keeping Anav quiet, so not to scare the wildlife away. We paddle without using the motor on the boat.

Like many of the nature trails on the islands, the Punta Suarez trail on Espanola passes through a number of different habitats, and exposes visitors to a variety of wildlife, including land iguanas, masked boobies, waved albatross, the ever-present sea lions, and various other birds. At the beginning of the trail I saw hundreds of red land iguanas. Iguanas on this island are reddish, while those on other islands are yellowish.

 

One of favorite snorkeling spots was of San Cristobal island This large rock jutting out of the ocean has split in two, leaving a channel about 15 m deep between the two portions. The real attraction is the geology. Underwater we saw lots of sabertooth blennies, the endemic galapagos rocktail damselfish, mexican hogfish, giant hawkfish (nice), razor surgeonfish, and a kind of cod or gouper with gold blotches surrounding white spots.

 

Lava caves: On Floreana and on Santa Cruz we had the opportunity to go to two lava tunnels. On Floreana after descending to the bottom we had to wade through knee deep water and use our headlamps. The Santa Cruz tunnel was quite tall and about 1km long.

Whole lot of Bull!

Sea lions are everywhere, bull sea lions patrol a particular stretch of beach and shoo off any rivals they encounter. For some reason, a bull often seems to think that human visitors have come to challenge him to a duel of honor to see who gets to be king of the beach (and of its female occupants). If you are attacked by a bull, you will lose the fight. For sure. Just get out of the way, back off, and he will assume he has won the fight through simple intimidation. And in a way, he has. Males are *much* bigger than females, and they have a prominent brow, or hump, on their foreheads. That’s all the anatomy you need to be aware of. You don’t have to look elsewhere. The sea lions are quite playful. They twirl around you, swim right up and blow bubbles in your face, tug at your fins and play tag. The more you flip around and do twirls to attract their attention, the more they play with you. If you blow bubbles at *them* and come and blow some back at you, into your mask! So you'd think that once you've seen them and got over your wonder at them, you'd just walk right past the next bunch, yawning as you passed. But, somehow, every time we landed on an island, there they were, looking cute, funny and sweet. And out came the camera. I swore over and over, and asked Reena to remind me that I would *not* take any more pictures of sea lions. And yet I took more, how could you resist that pose?

Iguanas

Iguana is the common name for a large "New World" lizard. "Iguana" a Spanish word of Indian origin also serves as the scientific name for the family. Iguanas are diurnal. They have distinctive eyelids, external eardrums, dewlaps (throat pouches), each limb has 5 toes with sharp claws allowing them to climb. Unlike most lizards, Iguanas are vegetarians. The Galapagos Islands are home to Marine Iguanas and Land Iguanas and a Hybrid mix whose father's are Marine Iguanas and mother's are Land Iguanas. Both grow to about 1m in length. Their yellowish-orange belly and brownish red back make them more colorful than their cousins the Marine Iguana. The Land Iguanas live in the arid portion of the islands. The mainstay of its diet is the Prickly Pear Cactus. They eat the pads and fruit including the spines. The cactus provides both food and water for the Land Iguanas can go without fresh water for a year. Marine Iguanas seek safety and warmth of the land when not feeding. A story goes that when Charles Darwin visited the islands he found thousands of Marine Iguanas living along the rocky shore. He picked one up and threw it into the ocean it instantly swam back to the shore. He did this several times and the Iguana continued to seek the safety of the shore when it could have easily swum off to escape Darwin.

Finches

The Galapagos Islands is home to 13 species of finch. These finches all evolved from a single species found along the Pacific Coast of South America. Once in the Galapagos Islands the finches adapted to their habitat and the size and shape of their bills reflect their specializations. Vegetarian Finch and Ground Finch all have crushing bills while Tree Finch have a grasping bill and Cactus Finch, Warbler Finch and Woodpecker Finch have probing bills. All of Darwin's Finches are sparrow sized and similar in appearance with gray, brown, black or olive feathers. They have short rounded wings and a rounded tail that often appears cocked to one side. Most male finch mature to a solid black color, while the females mature to a drab grayish color. Exceptions are made for the Vegetarian and Tree Finches the males never become completely black rather they have a black head, neck and upper breast. Warbler, Woodpecker and Mangrove Finches have more of an olive color. The finch vary by what they eat some eating seeds and others insects. The Ground Finches eat ticks they remove with their crushing beaks from Tortoises, Land Iguanas and Marine Iguanas and kick eggs into rocks to feed upon their contents. Woodpecker and Mangrove Finch use small twigs and cactus spines as tools to dine on the larva stored in dead tree branches. Though they have adapted to allow for specialized feeding most finches are generalized eaters. The specialization developed allowing the birds to survive during the dry season or times of drought when little food is available. Then these specialized tools allow the birds to better compete for food sources with other birds and animals.

Sharks & Rays

The first day when we went to Bachas beach, Amal stepped in the water and when he was about knee deep, Luis calmly pointed out a white tip reef shark a feet away from Amal. We both shouted “Step back!” As days went past the shark sightings were routine and we always came back with our toes intact. Several nights we would see the shark chase the sea lion in the bioluminescent waters. We saw three types, the Galapagos shark which is gray on the top and has a white belly. The white tip reef shark is grayish shark but is shorter and has white tips on the fins. And the hammerhead shark.

The combination of warm tropical waters and the upwelling nutrient rich cool Humboldt waters allows the Galapagos Islands to support a wide array of marine life. We saw the spotted eagle ray, which can reach over six feet in length. Manta rays, which make their home farther from shore, can be seen hurtling themselves above the ocean spray, crashing down, and then disappearing beneath the surf. They actually have a pest problem: their contortions are a way of trying to get parasites off their backsides. Another species we saw was the stingray and are found in shallow, sandy coves.

Fireflies in the Ocean

At night, on the side of the bow away from the moon, we look over the edge of the ship’s rails and see something magical. The dark ocean, cut by the bow of the ship, suddenly turns sparkly blue-green and the wake glows as if filled with millions of fire flies. We are churning the ocean and disturbing thousands of microscopic organisms, called plankton, which live near the ocean surface. The cold, deep Humboldt current water, upwelling around the Galápagos, fills the upper ocean with plankton which when disturbed emits light that is known as bioluminescence. What was surreal was when we would the Galapagos shark chase the sea-lion it would leave a little luminescent trail in the black waters.

Turtle Highway

There are giant tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz. Nearly all of the land in the Galapagos (97%) is National Park property. As such, visitors are permitted access only to a tiny portion of it, on marked trails. However in the highlands of Santa Cruz, a few private ranches still exist, and a few welcome visitors. You simply wander out into a grassy meadow and see the great dome-shaped carapaces of these ancient creatures as they graze. Some of them are 200 years old and must have been babies when Darwin saw them. You may also wander back into the more forested area and see the tortoises relaxing in small pools of water or traveling along a tortoise highway. The animals follow along established pathways to move from one favorite area to the next. Darwin writes a bit about these turtle highways.

Sally foot crabs

The bright red crabs are abundant throughout the Galapagos Coasts, scuttling around feeding on whatever they can get their claws on, be it dead, alive or their own kind. If scared or irritated they can move surprisingly fast and with agility. They can even hop on the water - which is an amusing sight. They are also favorite toys for Sea Lions pups.

 

Birds

The majority of animals seen by visitors are birds. The Galapagos is home to a variety of sea and land birds including different species such as that of booby, penguins, finches, flightless cormorants and waved albatross. The Galapagos Island's native bird life includes many residents almost half of which are endemic, the rest are regular migrants. Darwin's Finches include 13 species that have adapted to their island setting. Other endemics include the Lava Gull, Galapagos Penguin, Dark-Rumped Petrel, Galapagos Flightless Cormorant, Lava Heron, Galapagos Martin and Galapagos Dove. Early in the development of the islands many migratory birds made their way across the seas from neighboring Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to the islands with the assistance of trade winds

 

There are three types of boobies in the Galapagos: red-footed, blue-footed, and masked. The masked boobie is quite a lot larger than the other two, and, seems to me to be the most elegant looking of the three. They nest directly on the pebbles near the beach. One unexpected behavior of this species is that the female produces, and broods, two eggs, but will rear only one chick. Essentially, whichever egg hatches first will be the chick to survive. The other is abandoned. If one egg is lost to predators, for example, the other serves as insurance. This is apparently a function of the availability of food. Rather than feed two chicks inadequately, resulting in two weak individuals, the pressure of natural selection has resulted in the rearing of a single, strong and healthy chick.

 

While some birds have changed little over the years from their ancestors who first arrived in the islands others have altered slightly to create a new subspecies in the Galapagos like the Vermillion Flycatcher and the Short Eared Owl. While still others have developed into new species like the Galapagos Hawk and Galapagos Dove. The most dramatic evolutionary changes can be seen in birds like the Mockingbirds or Finches which have developed into several new subspecies depending based on their environment in the islands.

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