Swimming with Sea Lions

I have never been met by a Welcome Committee quite like this one. They seemed very glad to see us–a group of strangers–pulling up in our noisy zodiac boat. They responded to our presence by doing somersaults, waving their fins and popping their heads out of the water in greeting. Perhaps this is the thing that is most striking about the Galapagos Islands. The wildlife is remarkably unperturbed by human intrusions into their domain, and some, like the sea lions, even seem to enjoy it.

I first heard about the Galapagos Islands when I was a child and the Catholic Church was still wrestling with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. (Catholic schools today, in the US and other countries, teach “evolutionary creationism” as part of their science curriculum.) What caught my youthful attention, however, was not the theological arguments of those times, but pictures in National Geographic magazine of the awesome Galapagos tortoises.

The more I read and learned about how life developed on this isolated archipelago, the more I knew I wanted to go there. Not only were there spectacular volcanic eruptions creating new islands, and older ones sinking slowly into the sea, I wanted to see the strange and bizarre adaptions of mammals, birds, plants, and sealife unique to these islands, more than 600 miles away from any mainland.

What might I learn about life on our planet, I wondered, and its future, from these survivors of a harsh and constantly changing environment? Would I come away with hope in my heart, or despair?

Let me say first that the Galapagos would probably not be your first choice for a luxury vacation or destination wedding. Most of the islands are part of Ecuador’s national park system and therefore highly restricted in terms of development. That said, it is possible to visit in relative comfort. We stayed on a cozy, 40-passenger cruise ship that docked 10 minutes or so from each island, and shuttled us from ship to shore by panga, the Ecuadorean word for zodiac boat.

Each day we were able to hike across a different island, observing iguanas, colorful crabs, lizards, Darwin’s finches, frigate birds, and assorted boobies (blue-footed, red-footed, and Nazca boobies; not the other kind).

We could kayak to remote cliffs and watch the mating rituals of the frigate birds, puffing out their red-feathered chests to attract females. We also had the opportunity to snorkel and see the incredible marine life that thrives below the surface of the clear, aquamarine waters. I will never forget swimming through enormous schools of colorful fish, while sea lions clowned around for our entertainment, and green sea turtles swam lazily by.  

Most visitors only see the giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz, where the tortoises live in semi-retirement, their primary responsibility being to mate and have offspring. On the island of Espanola, however, lives a large 100-year-old male named Diego, known by locals as the gringo macho, or “playboy tortoise.” Before Diego was sent there as part of a tortoise breeding program, there were two males and 12 females on the island. Diego did his job, however, and reportedly fathered over 800 offspring. We looked for Diego when we were on Espanola, but he was apparently busy.[i]

Did we see examples of “adaptation” and “natural selection” that Darwin observed during his voyage on the HMS Beagle? We certainly did. We saw cacti as large as trees (“gigantism”), birds with vivid coloring to attract mates (“natural selection”) and finches that developed different beaks (so they could more easily eat whatever was available, called “adaptation”). We saw the bones of creatures that did not, or could not, survive a recent El Nino and presumably other extreme weather events.

Did I learn anything about the future of the human species from my visit to the Galapagos? Maybe. If we humans are resilient enough, or learn to more quickly adapt, we too might be able to withstand whatever harsh changes, global pandemics, or catastrophic conditions lie in our future. But are we that adaptable? That remains to be seen. Perhaps there is a “Diego” or two among us who will ensure the survival of our species, no matter what comes.

Have you ever visited the Galapagos, or had an interest in going there? Please comment and let me know what you think about this extraordinary archipelago. I would love to hear from you.

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[i] For more details about the giant tortoises, see the many resources referenced in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_tortoise

Moxie Gardiner is a writer and gardener who grew up on the West Side of Buffalo, NY. In a previous life she was a journalist, magazine editor, speech writer, and policy wonk. Back in the day she made three solo parachute jumps, flew in an F-15 fighter jet, and crawled through mud pits at the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama. She now meditates and practices yoga. She is almost ready to publish her first novel, set in Buffalo.