Galapagos Trip 2023 -- Day 2 -- Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island

CAUTION  --  LONG POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES

As soon as we returned from our exploration of Punta Vincente Roca and the crew could get the pangas loaded onto the ship, we set sail for our next destination, the north shore of Fernandina Island.  It was about an hour and 45 minute trip, time for us to have lunch and get ready for our next adventure.

Afternoon Adventure for Day 2.  Shortly after arriving at the new anchorage, we were off in the pangas for our next adventure, a hike on a small promontory of lava and sand on Fernandina Island known as Punta Espinosa or in English Spiny Point. 

La Pinta as seen from our panga heading for Fernandina Island.  It was not raining, but the clouds looked threatening.  The clouds also obscured the view of the mountains of Isabella Island just visible across the channel in the distance.

Fernandina Island is just across the Bolivar Channel from Isabella Island.  It is the western most of the Galapagos Islands and also the youngest. 

The green line is our gps track for Day 2 of our Galapagos trip

Created by Volcanism.  Fernandina Island sits over the Galapagos hotspot, which is the source of magma that has created all of the Galapagos Islands.  However, unlike the Hawaiian Islands that are a linear chain formed as the undersea tectonic plate moved  over the hotspot, the arrangement of the Galapagos Islands is more complex.  It is likely due to the motion and interaction of multiple near by tectonic plates. 

All of the Galapagos Archipelago has been formed from the eruption of underwater volcanoes.  There are 21 emergent (above sea level) volcanoes.  Depending on the definition of "active", there are at least two and as many as 13 still considered active.  The most recent eruption was Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island in January 2022.

La Cumbre Volcano, Fernandina Island.  Nowhere is the volcanic origin of the islands more apparent than on Fernandina Island..  Fernandina Island was created from the eruptions of La Cumbre Volcano, the most active volcano in the archipelago.  There have been 29 confirmed eruptions of La Cumbre Volcano since 1800 and five since 2000.  The most recent was in January 2020.  All of these recent eruptions mean Fernandina Island has vast expanses of lava fields.

Despite its lava nature, Fernandina is apparently teaming with wildlife.  However, it is also the most pristine of the Galapagos Islands, with essentially no species introduced by man.  The Galapagos National Park is committed to keeping it pristine.  The tiny Punta Espinosa area, our destination for the day, is the only spot on the entire 248 square mile island where visitors are allowed. 

Approaching the island.  As we got closer to the island the panga had to wind its way through a narrow channel lined by islands of lava.

Winding our way through the lava as we approach the island with a Sally Lightfoot Crab to greet us.

As we neared the landing site we entered a grove of red mangroves.

Red Mangroves are identifiable by their red roots that extend like stilts above the surface of the lava

Landing in the Red Mangroves.  Incredibly red mangroves somehow grow right out of the lava that is submerged in seawater at higher tide.   There are four types of mangroves that grow in Galapagos and each has developed unique strategies to survive in this harsh environment.  The roots of the red mangrove sit above the lava almost like stilts so they can absorb oxygen directly from the air.  The roots have evolved such that they filter out the salt from the seawater, with essentially only pure water reaching the rest of the plant.

Our landing at Punta Espinosa would be another dry landing.  There was even a boardwalk, but we had to step onto lava boulders (using the wet towel trick again) and climb up to it.  According to my guidebook, the boardwalk is actually a dock, but due to a recent uplift it cannot be reached at low tide.  Whatever the case, we scrambled up the rocks to the boardwalk which took us through the mangroves.

Emerging from the mangroves, we were immediately on sand covered lava. We took a right and began a counter-clockwise trip around the little peninsula.

Aerial photo with the gps track of our walk on Punta Espinosa. 

Marine Iguanas.  We immediately began encountering marine iguanas.

The Frog and James emerging from the mangroves.  Note the marine iguana nearby who totally ignored us.  The La Pinta is in the distance.

I almost  stepped on one when I wasn't paying attention.

Small marine iguana at the edge of the mangroves

However, it was the black lava beyond the sand that caught most everyone's attention.

The Frog and our naturalist guide for the day, with the mangroves on the right and the La Pinta in the background

A closer look at the black lava revealed that it was a mass of marine iguanas.

Lots and lots of marine iguanas and they all seem to be watching us

Most were in large groups, but some were alone or in small groups.

Best buds on the beach

As I noted in the previous post, marine iguanas are the only true marine lizards in the world and they are only found in Galapagos. Like all lizards, they are cold-blooded.  They are lounging in the sun and crowding together for warmth.

While we were looking at them, they were all faced in the same direction and seemed to be looking at us.  I later read that after they become warm they turn to face the sun and raise their bodies.  This minimizes their exposure to direct radiation but maximizes any cooling from breezes hitting their bellies.  However, I still couldn't help thinking they were all curious about us and what we were doing.  In any case, even though they were very aware we were there, they were certainly not the least bit scared.

Marine iguanas have evolved such that they can survive in the harsh lava field environment because they do not depend on land for food. They feed underwater almost exclusively on marine algae

Of course eating under water means they likely consume large amounts of seawater.  That would be a problem for many animals.  Marine iguanas have developed specialized glands near their nose that remove the salt from their blood  They eject the salt forcibly through their nostrils, similar to a sneeze.  The salt is ejected without water to avoid dehydration.  The plume of salt goes everywhere, including on each other and on their heads, resulting in their white "wigs" of salt

A marine iguana with his white "wig" of salt

More critters.  We continued our meander in the sand along the edge of the lava.  We soon encountered various tidal pools, each containing its own set of critters.

Looking back towards the mangrove grove where we had started we could see the various groups from the La Pinta spread out along the lava and the various interspersed tidal pools.  Yes, Gwen and Paul are in the group on the right.

One pool was teaming with Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

Sally Lightfoot Crabs

 

I don't know why this crab is balanced between two rocks.  I guess it is a crab thing.

There were Flightless Cormorants in several locations.

Flightless Cormorant

Some more flightless cormorants

Of course there were more marine iguanas.

More iguanas and the La PInta

We even began to see iguanas on the sand instead of the lava.

Marine Iguanas on the sand

However, the real entertainers were the sea lions.  There were a few adults around.

Sea lions, presumably adults, taking a nap.

There was even a "nursery" where a momma sea lion was nursing her pup.

The adult female sea lion is on the right with her hind flippers sticking out. The pup is on the left and is nursing. 

However, the juveniles were the ones having a great time playing in the water.

This guy swam over to right in front of us.

Even though the water was very shallow, he rolled over on his back then went frolicking off with his buddy.

Finally there was one very little guy that seemed to be missing his mother.  She was undoubtedly off looking for food somewhere, but he was most impatient to be fed.  He decided to check us out as a possible solution to his problem.

Since he was willing to pose (kind of), the guides decided it was an opportunity to take pictures.

Everybody smile!

By this time we had made most of the way around the loop.  Of course, there were yet even more marine iguanas.

Yes, even more marine iguanas

How many hundreds of these guys had we seen?

Lava cactus on the far side of the chasm or, since this is lava, should I call it a rift

We got to see several clumps of lava cactus.  It is one of the first things to grow on young lava since it can grow on bare lava.  It is yet another species that only exists in the Galapagos Islands.

Lava cactus

Having walked on all of this lava, I was wondering how old or new it was.  I still don't know, but as I had already guessed  it was not among the most recent eruptions. 

Extent of lava flow on Fernandina for the last three eruptions. as detected by thermal anomalies.  Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Fernandina (Ecuador) (Krippner, J.B., and Venzke, E., eds.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 45:3. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN202003-353010    Punta Espinosa, the locaton of our hike, is at the green dot at the top labelled FER1.

From the log of the ship Tarter on February 14, 1825.  Young or old, it was interesting to see the lava.  However  I am glad there was no eruption while we were near the island.  Even if there had been it would likely be nothing like what the crew members on the ship Tartar experienced on February 14, 1825.  This was by far the most fascinating story about Fernandina Island that I discovered.

On that date the Tarter was anchored in Banks Bay off Isabela Island, essentially at the throat of the seahorse.   La Cumbre Volcano on Fernandina began erupting at 2 am.  Unfortunately there was no wind and the Tarter, as a sailing ship, was stuck.  At 3 am. the water temp was  61 F and the air temp was 71 F.  By 11 am the water temp was 100 and the air temp was 113.  By 4 pm the air temp was 123 and the water temp was 105.  Later that evening there was a slight breeze and they were able to make a run for it down the Bolivar Channel. As they made their run past the lava  flow several miles away the air temp was 147 and the water was at least 150.  The pitch sealing the ship's hull was melting and many of the men passed out from the heat, but they made it.  No, I will leave that level of adventure for others.

I could not find the complete log by Captain Benjamin Morrell anywhere online, but it is included in its entirety in William Beebe's book, Galapagos World's End, page 519 of the Kindle version.   It runs several pages long, so is much too long to include here.  It is not worth buying Beebe's book for, but if you run across it, check it out.  Not only is it interesting, but the style of prose in 1825 is far from what I expect is used in ship log's today to say the least.

Rain, kind of.  Unfortunately it now began to rain just a little.  For fear of rain I had only brought my cellphone.  I had been regretting that, but now was glad that I had left my camera on the ship since it is not water sealed.  I dug my rain jacket out of my backpack and was good to go.  Of course, by that time it had already stopped raining!

Our guide explaining to us that we were going back to the ship

Unfortunately it was just enough rain to make the lava slippery, so the guide decided we would not continue any further and would make our way back to the ship.  It was probably a good call  since one person had already fallen and badly injured her wrist.   It turned out to be a sprain and the loud crack she heard as she fell was her cellphone hitting the lava.  However, none of us knew any of that yet as she rode back in the panga with us and the guide radioed ahead to have the onboard doctor standing by.

I don't know what we missed by cutting the hike short because it seemed like we had seen a lot.  In any case it had been a great day.