Puerto Egas is a lava rock beach, where marine iguanas live and breed in
large numbers.
The shore line is an old lava flow into the ocean and with many
formations.
The
Galapagos snake is non-venomous and feeds mostly on small animals.
Here it is devouring a lava lizard from which the tail is still
visible hanging out from the snake's mouth.
Not far inside can be found a tree called Manzanillo
or Poison Apple so named after its small apple-like fruit. It should however not be eaten as it
is poisonous and so are the other parts of this
Spurge specie.
On the rocky beach many shore birds, like sanderlings can be observed in
search of food.
Whimbrel, American Oystercatcher and Ruddy Turnstone are other birds
seen along the shore.
A Lave Heron, anendemic heron specie of the Galapagos, sits
motionlessly in wait at the edge of the water for fish or invertebrates
to float by and be grabbed.
Sally Lightfood crab feeding on shark carcass. Two mollusks in embrace.
A natural bridge leads to inlets where the fur seals are found. That
place is
also known as¨ Gruta de las Focas¨. Sugarloaf mountain serves as the
background.
Fur Seals are endemic and inhabit those lava shores and
do not seem do mind its seemingly hostile ground compared to sandy
beaches.
Fur Seals or more correctly Fur Sea Lions as they are not really
seals, were hunted for a long time for their valuable furs and brought
almost to extinction.Presently they have
recovered their numbers. Fur seals fish at night and spend the day
resting in crevices.
Insects are often overlooked on nature trips to Galapagos but they
are as important here as anywhere
else.
Rainbow over James Bay where Charles Darwin anchored 150 years ago and
explored the interior of Santiago Island.
