Wildlife in the Galapagos

We saw so many islands and so many animals in the Galapagos. One main attraction of the islands is the giant tortoise. We saw those on San Cristobal, and on Santa Cruz. I want to share the story of Lonesome George the tortoise.

Lonesome George

Five species of tortoises have gone extinct in the Galapagos. Including, the bree from Pinta Island, in the north section of the islands. One day, a group of naturalists found an adult male Pinta Tortoise when scoping out the island. They immediately brought him to Santa Cruz’s conservation center in 1971.

They made so many efforts to help him reproduce, but nothing worked. They tried to make him crossbreed with other species of tortoise, but he wasn’t interested. Lonesome George helped the Pinta tortoises receive the name “the rarest species in the world."

While on board the ship I watched a documentary. They had filmed the movie before the death of George. I was just about to comment on this while the movie was playing, but the narrator followed up by saying, “In fact, George died just 2 weeks after filming with him.”

Other animals that were very common include sea lions, marine and land iguanas, frigate birds, gulls, sally lightfoot crabs, stingrays, sharks, and sea turtles. One of the main reasons people come to the Galapagos is for the wildlife. The animals will come right up to you, because humans have never threatened them before, and they are therefore, not afraid of us. Sea lions and iguanas do not flop into the sea or scurry away when we walk towards them, they simply sit and pretend you aren’t there! Here are some pictures to show you what I mean;

So cute!!