Daphne Major to
the left and Daphne Minor to the right are two eroded tops of volcanoes
off the coast of Santa Cruz.
Dolphins swim in large groups and are
encountered on the travels between islands.
One or a few dolphins of a group sometimes
come near the boat to check it out and to surf also in the bow waves of the
cruiser.
Daphne Major served for many years as a study
site for evolutionary biology in Darwin Finches.
The three boobies encountered in the isles hunt for fish in the sea at
different distances from the land. The blue-footed, which is shown here
in flight, hunt closest, masked boobies at intermediate and the
red-footed ones, the farthest out on sea. This arrangement dimishishes
competion for food among the boobies.
The rocky and steep cliffs of the two islands serves as nesting
sites for masked and blue-footed boobies and tropicbirds.
