ISLA SAN CRISTÓBAL

To start my trip, I flew into San Cristobal Island to spend a few days exploring. I booked myself what is known as a 360 tour and headed off for a complete circuit of the island with a stop at Kicker Rock (a.k.a. Leon Dormido in Spanish – completely different names both related to the shape of the rock itself). I’m just going to include tons of beautiful photos from the trip around the island. *Note, I’m not an expert, so feel free to correct or help identify species if they’re incorrect.*

top: black tipped shark, Galápagos shark, hammerhead shark, slate pencil urchin 
 middle: sea cucumber, yellow-tailed surgeon fish, blue chin parrotfish, puffer fish  
bottom: sting ray, eagle ray, green turtle, green turtle

frigate bird, blue footed booby, swallow tailed gull, brown pelican

 great egret, great blue heron, Galápagos sea lion (these guys are lying around just about everywhere, blocking sidewalks and piers), San Cristóbal lava lizard

Sally lightfoot crab in various stages of development

The last day on the island, I went snorkeling near Cerro Tijeretas and found these:

(l to r): sea anemones, green sea urchin, hieroglyphic hawkfish (upside-down, as usual), sea star

ISLA ESPAÑOLA

I managed to book a day trip over to Española Island to see the animals that live there. We almost tripped over the pile of marine iguanas on the way up the path. Española is also known as the nesting site of the waved albatross, a very large flying bird. During our snorkeling trip, we caught sight of the nocturnal swallow-tailed gull which has brilliant red eyes it uses to see at night.

top (l to r): Galápagos sea lions, pile of marine iguanas, Española marine iguana, Nazca boobies 
bottom (l to r): baby waved albatross (~3 months old), adult waved albatrosses, Española mockingbird, swallow tailed gull

Short video of the marine iguana in water:

Snorkeling in Española was also pretty rad.

(l to r): Galápagos sea lion, coral hawkfish, chocolate chip sea star, Mexican hogfish

ISLA SANTA CRUZ

I took a speedboat over to this island and spent my first afternoon here at Las Grietas, a beautiful canyon filled with brackish blue water. Just a few fish are inside, but the views of the narrow rocky walls make up for it. At one point, I had to swim through an underwater tunnel to get to the next pool.

(l to r): Las Grietas, Santa Cruz marine iguana, tiny fish (maybe a sculpin?), parrotfish

Up next: More Galápagos!