![]() It was great to have him take a photo of the four of us as well. Aaron also brought a camera and put up a nice Facebook album of our group in the evening. My husband and I decided to do a tandem kayak which worked out great because I was able to take some great photos while we were floating. We were provided with bottled water and a pretzel snack as well as the rain ponchos, life jackets, and kayak/paddles. We took off a little before 2pm because our group was early in getting there and we finished up right around 4pm. Aaron was full of interesting insights about the area. Lofton Creek turned out to be a little oasis - we couldn't believe it was just 30 minutes from the Jacksonville Airport! The day we went the sky was overcast and there was a light drizzle in the air, but Aaron came prepared with rain ponchos for those of us who wanted to use them and the day really cleared up in the middle of the paddle. You start by getting outfitted with a life jacket and an introduction to paddling from your guide - we had co-owner Aaron - and then you are off. There are also several tidal pools, which are home to a specialized ecosystem and occasionally trap a sea turtle or stingray.We loved our visit! We chose the Lofton Excursion which proved to be a great paddle for all skill levels. The island is uninhabited, and so the animals have no reason to fear humans. It is known for the colony of hundreds of marine iguanas that live there as well as a sea lion nursery, some flightless cormorants and the occasional Galapagos hawk. On this sandy beach of Fernandina Island in the Galapagos, the crew are living a wildlife photographer’s dream. The only visitor site on Fernandina is Punta Espinosa, a maze of sandy trails through interesting lava floes. They are rarely seen by visitors, but can be seen on the National Geographic video "Dragons of Galapagos." These iguanas make a long journey from the rim of the volcano to the floor of the caldera, where they nest. In fact, there is a species of rice rat on the island that is endemic: on other islands, native rats have been muscled out by more aggressive introduced rat species.įernandina is home to a population of Galapagos land iguanas. It does not suffer from the invasive introduced species that plague the rest of the islands, such as rats, ants, goats and different plants. Unlike other extinct species of Galapagos tortoise, the Fernandina subspecies did not die off due to humans: the fossil record indicates that it died off naturally, mostly due to volcanic activity and lack of nesting materials and food.įernandina is famous in Galapagos for being the most pristine of the larger islands. There was once a variety of giant tortoise on Fernandina, but it is now extinct. The endemic flightless cormorant, the only cormorant in the world that cannot fly, is only found on Fernandina, although they do occasionally nest on Isabela. Fernandina and Isabela are home to most of the Galapagos penguin population, and they are commonly spotted on Fernandina's rocky shores. Most of the plant life consists of thick mangroves along the shoreline, which make an excellent home for shore birds and small fish which are an important link in the ecosystem. Some of the crew fainted from the heat and suffocating air.īecause of increased volcanic activity and its relative youth, Fernandina is home to less plant life than some of the other islands, including neighboring Isabela, but it is rich in animal life. Tar was melting off the rigging as he fled, finally anchoring some fifty miles away. In February of 1825, Benjamin Morrell, captain of the British whaling ship Tartar, was passing between Fernandina and Isabela when the volcano on Fernandina, known as La Cumbre, erupted: he barely managed to bring his ship to safety. Filmed on Fernandina Island in the Galpagos, the Galpagos Racer ( Philodryas biserialis) is a slim, fast-moving, mildly venomous snake that reaches lengths of up to 120cm. ![]() It is also the most volcanically active and several serious eruptions have occurred there, the most recent in 2005. It is named for King Fernando of Spain, the monarch who sponsored Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage of discovery. The westernmost island, or Fernandina (British sailors named it "Narborough" but the Spanish name stuck), is the youngest. The oldest island in the Galapagos is therefore the one furthest to the east, or San Cristobal. In Galapagos, the Nazca Plate moves from west to east over the hot spot, forming volcanoes (which in turn form islands). As the earth's crust, in this case the Nazca Plate, moves across it, a series of volcanoes forms, resulting in a chain of islands more or less in a line. The Galapagos Islands were formed by a "hot spot," or a place under the earth's core that causes the crust above it to form volcanoes.
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