Galapagos Diaries, Phillip Colla Photography

Skip found a marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) foraging on algae while we were freediving along the edge of Bartolome Island, and I got a shot of it, the only one I’ve ever seen in the Galapagos Islands underwater:

Marine iguana, underwater, forages for green algae that grows on the lava reef. Bartolome Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16227   Species: Amblyrhynchus cristatus Location: Bartolome Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

See more marine iguana photos, photos of Amblyrhynchus cristatus and photos of the Galapagos Islands.

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On our 2006 trip to the Galapagos Islands, we had some very good diving at Darwin Island: hammerheads, silky sharks and spotted eagle rays galore on the shoulder of the reef, with more than a few Galapagos fur seals, turtles and various schools of fish closer to shore. At the end of a late afternoon dive there, I was relaxing in the shallows gingerly sipping the last few PSI in my tank, spending as much time underwater before a lack of air forced me to ascend and call for the panga. There was a nice-sized school of bigeye jacks (Caranx sexfasciatus) whirling around me in the fading light. I tried making some artsy-fartsy strobe-blur photos and ended up with one I was happy with:

Bigeye trevally jacks, motion blur, schooling. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16347   Species: Caranx sexfasciatus Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

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On the final day of our 1996 trip (my first) to the Galapagos Islands, we made a morning visit to North Seymour island. (Many Galapagos visitors walk ashore on North Seymour, it is one of the popular land visits due to its proximity to the airport on Baltra.) Uncertain that I would ever see the Galapagos again, the visit was particularly poignant as it was the conclusion of one of the most exciting trips I had had in my life to that point. It was also one of the first times I was able to see frigatebirds up close. This striking white-headed bird is a juvenile magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). the same species as the adult male that I mentioned a few days ago. It took me a while to confirm the identification; ultimately I relied on the characteristic blue ring around the bird’s eye. Fortunately, I was able to visit the Galapagos two more times with Skip (this photo of Skip was taken just a few moments after and a few yards away from the juvenile frigatebird photo), including once with Tracy, so have been able to see many more frigatebirds since I took this photo some years ago.

Magnificent frigatebird (note blue eye ring), juvenile. North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 02271   Species: Fregata magnificens Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

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On our 1998 trip, Tracy and I bumped into these schooling snappers while diving at Albany, one of the better dive sites in the central Galapagos Islands.

Schooling fish, Albany. James Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 02032   Location: James Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

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On my first full day in the Galapagos Islands, in 1996, we made three great dives at Champion, Enderby and Devil’s Crown. I was on overload all day, surrounded by schools of fish and groups of Galapagos sea lions. After all that diving, plus a visit to Floreana to see flamingos, it was decided that we would return to Isla Champion for a night dive. I was pretty tired so decided to conserve my strength for our Hood visit the next morning and shoot macro subjects in shallow water. Sea lions were buzzing around me through the dive, leaving long glowing contrails of phosphorescent plankton in their wake as they zoomed by. The one photo I kept from the dive that night is this shot of two orange cup coral (Tubastrea coccinea) polyps, a common coraline invert that “blooms” at night.

Orange cup coral. Isla Champion, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 01858   Species: Tubastrea coccinea Location: Isla Champion, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

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One of the best dives I ever had in the Galapagos Islands occurred while freediving during our 1998 trip there, at Cousins Rock. It was a beautiful sunny day, we were eating lunch al fresco on the deck of the Lammer Law after a late morning dive. I convinced our naturalists to let me skip lunch and swim over to the rock since I had seen quite a few gregarious Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus californianus wollebacki) in the water there earlier. Tracy said she wanted to nap after lunch but the guys gave me the ok to swim to the rock on my own so I grabbed a camera, hopped in and went over to the rock. No other boats were at Cousins which meant I was the only one there for the sea lions to play with. Shortly after I got among them, I noticed two young ones playing with what looked like a baggie or balloon. As I got closer I realized they had pulled a poor hapless puffer fish from the reef and were playing with it, passing it back and forth and dragging it about by its tail. The puffer was freaked out and totally puffed up. (Puffers puff when they freak, sort of like hippies and Democrats). Soon one of them pulled it to me and dropped it off. I kid you not. I look at it for a moment as it paddled around in front of me, far from the safety of its reef, before the two hoodlum sea lions grabbed it and dragged it about again. Then dropped it off for me. This went on for a while. After I got over the hilarity of it, I regained enough presence of mind to snap off a few photos. Ken Howard once insisted that I submit this to some photo contests, but I am convinced the judges would disqualify it believing that I was harrassing the fish and artificially setting up the photo so I never bothered. Yes, the fish was being harrassed, but not by me. Eventually the sea lions tired of their toy and let it go. I can confirm that it made it back to the reef, probably stunned and battered but likely to live another day.

Galapagos sea lion playing with puffer fish. Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 02254   Species: Zalophus californianus wollebacki, Zalophus californianus wollebaeki Location: Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

More Galapagos sea lion photos, and photos from the Galapagos Islands.

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The last time I dove Cousins Rock, one of the finer dive sites in the Galapagos Islands, I was set up to photograph sea horses. I rarely shoot macro, but on this trip I was burned out from two weeks of diving and swimming long distances (the currents are strong in the Galapagos Islands), and I planned to settle down on one of the ledges at Cousins and just shoot the sea horses. After a few minutes on the ledge, I felt a nudge on my shoulder. A young Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus californianus wollebacki) is laying down beside me, watching what I am doing. I had no idea it was there. It hangs out for a few minutes, playing with the smooth stones that are found on the ledges (probably left there by other sea lions), and finally leaves to swim up to the surface for a breath of air. A few minutes later there it is again, right beside me. It stayed with me like this for the entire hour-long dive. What a pleasant and mellow companion, willing to just hang out with me and relax! I eventually obliged it by taking its portrait, converted here to black and white.

Galapagos sea lion. Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16395   Species: Zalophus californianus wollebacki, Zalophus californianus wollebaeki Location: Cousins, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

More Galapagos sea lion photos, and photos from the Galapagos Islands.

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Of all marine animals — I have seen many different kinds, large and small — the most appealing to me are pinnipeds (sea lions, fur seals, seals). Here is one, a cute little Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus californianus wollebacki) pup photographed on North Seymour Island just a few yards away from where the magnificent frigatebird in the previous post was observed. Galapagos sea lions are very closely related to California sea lions, indeed they are just a subspecies.

Galapagos sea lion pup. North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16506   Species: Zalophus californianus wollebacki, Zalophus californianus wollebaeki Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

More Galapagos sea lion photos, and photos from the Galapagos Islands.

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One of the great surprises I had the first time I visited the Galapagos Islands was how much I enjoyed the bird life there. Seabirds seabirds everywhere! The most enjoyable to watch are the frigatebirds (Fregata sp.). Pirates of the air and sea, frigatebirds don’t catch their own food, rather they have adapted to steal it from other birds. They carry out their felonious work in flight. It is not uncommon to see one or more frigates chasing a gull or booby as the victim returns from sea to its island nest with a mouthful or belly-full of hard-earned food. The frigates, which are unbelievably maneuverable in the air due to their extremely high ratio of wing span to body weight, harrass their victim in flight until it spits out, or worse, barfs up, its food. The frigates peel away and drop like fiends, scooping the food out of the air before it hits the water. The hapless victim is left to its nest, or to return to the sea to forage again. Here is a photo of an adult male magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) with its red throat pouch inflated in a courtship display, photographed on North Seymour Island in the central Galapagos.

Magnificent frigatebird, adult male on nest, with throat pouch inflated, a courtship display to attract females. North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16725   Species: Fregata magnificens Location: North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

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Wolf Island is one of the two northernmost islands in the Galapagos archipelago. Along with Darwin Island, Isla Wolf is famous for its rich undersea and seabird life. There are no land visits on the island, so the few visitors to the island are almost entirely divers or research scientists. Typical of most islands in the Galapagos, Wolf Island has a historical second name that often appears on nautical charts: Wenman Island.

Wolf Island, with a liveaboard tour boat below sheer seacliffs, is the largest of the islands in the distant northern island group of the Galapagos archipelago, is home to hundreds of thousands of seabirds. Vast schools of sharks and fish inhabit the waters surrounding Wolf Island. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16629   Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Isla Wolf lies 100km north of the central Galapagos islands, and requires about 12-15 hours to reach by boat. The crossing can be rough, but the abundant life and spectacular diving at the island are well worth the effort. Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) are often seen at Wolf Island, typically in schools of up to hundreds at a time. Fortunate divers will also see whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis), bottlenose dolphins, spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) and Galapagos fur seals (Arctocephalus galapagoensis).

Hammerhead sharks, schooling. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16271   Species: Sphyrna lewini Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Above water the island is an extraordinary bird habitat. Seabirds wheel by the thousands in updrafts above the island throughout the day, with morning and evening fly-ins and fly-outs as the birds depart to forage for food or return to rest at the island. Red-footed boobies (Sula sula), nazca boobies (Sula granti, formerly known as masked boobies), frigates, pelicans and swallow-tailed gulls (Creagrus furcata) dominate the skies above Wolf.

Galapagos shark. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16240   Species: Carcharhinus galapagensis	Coral hawkfish. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 02432   Species: Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus	Great frigatebird, adult male, in flight, carrying twig for nest building, green iridescence of scapular feathers identifying species. Wolf Island. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16708   Species: Fregata minor

Hammerhead sharks, schooling, black and white / grainy. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16256   Species: Sphyrna lewini	Spotted eagle rays. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16333   Species: Aetobatus narinari	Striped sea chub, schooling. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16412   Species: Kyphosus analogous

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Darwin’s Arch is a spectacular natural rock arch that rises above the ocean offshore of Darwin Island in the Galapagos Archipelago. (Typical of most islands in the Galapagos, Darwin Island has a second name that often appears on nautical charts: Culpepper Island.)

Darwins Arch, a dramatic 50-foot tall natural lava arch, rises above the ocean a short distance offshore of Darwin Island. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16621   Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Darwin’s Arch is a natural lighthouse of sorts, marking the end of a reef, the point where the reef’s foul shallow area drops off into deeper water. Darwin’s Arch also marks what many believe is the finest scuba dive in the world, a wild underwater place where anything can happen. There are other dives one can make at Darwin Island but “diving the arch” is what visitors to the island want to do, over and over. The reef slope here is a mix of lava and coral that drops to a sand bottom which itself grows deeper as it slopes away from the island and the arch. Strong currents sweep over the reef; at times these currents are strong enough to carry divers away, and the diving here can be uncomfortable or intimidating to a novice diver. It is not uncommon to see enormous schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks here, lined up in the current and numbering in the hundreds or thousands. Schools of Barberfish and small groups of king angelfish congregate above the reef, drawing individual hammerheads down from their schools to hover over the reef to be cleaned of parasite and bits old skin. Other species of sharks are seen here as well, the most notable of which is the enormous whale shark, the largest fish in the sea.

Darwin Island, with the Arch on the right. Darwin Island is the northernmost of the Galapagos Islands and is home to enormous numbers of seabirds. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16622   Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

In 1994 we dove Darwin’s Arch repeatedly over a four-day stretch and had encounters with whale sharks on every single dive. In 1997, during the second year of a particularly strong El Nino cycle, we arrived at Darwin Island to find its underwater haunts almost dead, with no large animals of any kind and very few schools of fish. The water was simply too warm. It was a stark and disappointing contrast to what we had seen just a few years prior. Our 2006 trip offered five days of unbelievable hammerhead schools with literally thousands on each dive. Every time we hopped in the water, we had hammerheads around us for a solid hour, continuously from the moment we entered the water until we were picked up by the panga. We would end our dives at the arch surrounded by huge schools of Pacific creolefish, large enough to block out the sun, which hover in walls 40-50 yards out from the reef. As we reached the surface and began to drift away from the island on the current, hoping our panga drivers would come find us quickly, we were usually visited by large, inquisitive bottlenose dolphins.

Whale shark. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 01520   Species: Rhincodon typus	Hammerhead sharks, schooling, black and white / grainy. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16254   Species: Sphyrna lewini	Bigeye trevally jacks, schooling. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16346   Species: Caranx sexfasciatus

See also: Darwin’s Arch photos

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We have posted 575 new images shot on our latest Galapagos Islands diving trip, a 15-day run on the liveaboard M/V Sky Dancer. We had phenomenal encounters with schools of hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), literally by the hundreds and thousands on nearly all dives at Wolf and Darwin, not to mention good luck with Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis), Galapagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) and brief looks at marine iguanas underwater. Diving in the central islands was OK, not great, although we did have good fish displays at Cousins and clean water and sunlight at Gordon Rocks.

Scalloped hammerhead shark. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16246   Species: Sphyrna lewini Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Galapagos shark. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16239   Species: Carcharhinus galapagensis Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Hammerhead sharks, schooling, black and white / grainy. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16254   Species: Sphyrna lewini Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Galapagos photos (July 2006)
Galapagos photos (all trips: 1996, 1998, 2006)

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The Galapagos tortoise, Geochelone spp., an endemic species of the Galapagos islands, is thought to have arrived in the Galapagos archipelago on rafts of debris. As it became distributed throughout the islands, it evolved into 14 distinct species of which 11 are still in existence and are endangered. In some species of Galapagos tortoise the shell is distinctly shaped (e.g., saddle-backed, domed) depending on whether the food sources require a head-raised or head-lowered posture during feeding. Galapagos tortoises can weigh up to 600 lbs with a shell five feet across, and live up to 150 years. For many years, sailors visiting the Galapagos islands would collect Galapagos tortoises and store them aboard ship, since the tortoises could live for months without food or water and would constitute a good source of meat for long voyages. It is thought that perhaps 200,000 tortoises perished this way.

Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16481   Species: Geochelone nigra	Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16480   Species: Geochelone nigra	Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16484   Species: Geochelone nigra

These free-ranging, wild Galapagos tortoises were photographed in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island (Indefatigable).

Keywords: Galapagos Islands, Galapagos tortoise, Geochelone spp., endemic, endangered / threatened.

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The Galapagos Islands, an Ecuadorian archipelago straddling the equator in the Eastern Pacific, is a remarkable underwater paradise. The central and southern islands hold a wealth of temperate as well as tropical marine creatures due to the mixing of currents there. However, it is the northern islands of Darwin and Wolf that divers typically look forward to the most on a Galapagos dive trip. These two islands, along with the smaller Roca Redonda, are the best places in the Galapagos — and indeed one of the best places in the world — to encounter whale sharks. On our first dive at Darwin in 1996 the group had left me behind, riding the current back to the anchorage, while I spent my air exploring the area where we were dropped at Darwin’s Arch. I met up with a young whale shark who happened along and allowed me to swim alongside him for 20 minutes taking photos. Eventually the shark and I caught up with the rest of the dive group, and as each diver noticed us he would swim over and join. Eventually everyone got a good look at the huge shark.

Whale shark. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 01520   Species: Rhincodon typus Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

During our several visits to Darwin Island (we’ve made three trips there in ‘96, ‘98 and ‘06), we have dove at the Arch repeatedly. In 1996 our group saw a whale shark on every dive there including a final dive at the arch was highlighted by a visit from an enormous whale shark, probably 40 feet or more in length:

Whale shark. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 01503   Species: Rhincodon typus Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth!

Keywords: whale shark photo, Galapagos, Rhincodon typus, Darwin Island, underwater.

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