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Introduction
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For more information about upcoming workshops, visit the Workshops homepage or send an email to grijalva@ohiou.edu |
Isla Santiago By Shara Taylor
As we toured a small portion of Santiago, I learned more about its inhabitants and facts about the island from our tour guide Charlie. The island is dry and arid, which at first glance gives an appearance of desolation, however the island is abundant in life. Many animals on Santiago we had seen previously on other islands, such as lava lizards, finches, and oyster catchers. Charles Darwin visited Santiago and wrote about few places to sleep, because of the numerous lava lizards. However, over the years numbers decreased due to predation. A unique animal that one is more likely to see on Santiago is the Fur seal. Learning about and seeing Fur seals is something that I truly enjoyed. Fur seals are actually nocturnal sea lions. They were hunted and exploited for their fur prior to conservation on the island. Exploring the shore of the island I saw a few adult Fur seals lying asleep in the cave like, grotos formed in cracks of hardened lava, near a formation called Darwin’s toilet bowl. Two pups played in the shade of the ocean water within the canyon.
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On
Friday June 18, 2005 we arrived on the island of Santiago in the Galapogas
Islands. We stepped off the panga and onto the soft black sand, formed from
volcanic ash. There has been no volcanic activity on the island since the
late 1800s. 