sweet dreams of Sea Lion pup in Galapagos

Some 1 000 kilometres west of Ecuador stretches the unusual archipelago Galapagos.
There are total 61 islands ( among them 13 larger ) made probably out of cooled lava, that came to the surface from underwater volcanic activities.

It may be reached by Inca warriors long before, but to the civilized world they were discovered in 1535, where bishop of Panama came to land seeking for sweet water on the way to Peru.
The isles were named ‘Las Encantadas’ as the heavy mist around the land make them temporary disappear from the sight of the sailors.

Located far from the Spanish trade routes, the islands became the shelter for various pirates, and later for whale hunters who discovered great value of tortoise meat from Galapagos.
In 1835 the wildlife of Galapagos inspired Darvin for developing his ‘Theory of evolution’.
After the Second World War the government of Ecuador decided to create a national park, which covers more than 95% of the islands.
Since 1959 the land is protected also by an International Foundation of Charles Darwin, which established the research base on Santa Cruz Island.

The restrictions of movement and settlement in Galapagos are strictly controlled, and all boat traffic is limited by the government.
Most of the tourists came to the islands by air, or on the boats, as part of cruise trips.
The private boats, that want to reach Galapagos have to obtain the permission prior to a visit.

As the islands were formed far from the continent, all the wildlife had to came to Galapagos by floating, swimming or flying, even if it were the seeds travelling inside of bird’s stomach.
The species evolved in slightly different conditions, and within the time each separated island has the slightly different inhabitants which came from one common ancestor.
The animals were growing without presence of any predator, and to these days fear no human, or other species, like domestic animals which came with the sailors.

And so the behaviour of animals makes the visit to Galpagos really unforgotten experience of lifetime.
You may face giant tortoises, be licked by curious seals, step over nesting birds or sunworship with land iguanas.
The bird colonies include flamingos,penguins, flightless cormorants, boobies and other tropical birds.
Sea lions are all over the islands, but whales came very seldom, and only to few places in waters of Galapagos.
[photo courtesy of cdorobek]