May 19, Wednesday, Pinta Island
This morning will be our last on Pinta. I was able to climb up to the tortoise area relatively early and spent time enjoying the scenery, watching tortoises moving through the vegetation, eating, sniffing, and looking around. I also enjoyed watching the guardaparques work as they carried tortoises up the hill, passing the tortoises to the next team at each transition point. Generally, there was no evident loss of momentum anywhere along the route. I watched a few arrive, then followed a trail of a tortoise a few hundred meters up the hill. While watching her, I heard a lot of cheering and suddenly worried that I might be missing “the arrival” of the last tortoise. I hurried back, painfully beating through vegetation that had not been opened by a tortoise yet. I got back to find my fears were for naught. There were still a few more tortoises to arrive. The smallest tortoise came up on the back of one of the crew members from the Sierra Negra. The captain was extremely gracious in allowing his crew to help with this project. Normally the vessels used here are worked by a crew that focus entirely on the duties of maintaining the vessel. While this crew left nothing to lack with respect to their ship duties, they were also so excited about the release that they did whatever they could to participate. It was one of the crew who was able to heft the smallest tortoise (20 kg, or 44 lbs) onto his shoulder and walk the entire 4 km himself!
The Guards gather around the last tortoise, number 39
The next tortoise was number 39! He arrived and the entire string of guardaparques were there to meet him. A lot of cheers, back slapping, hand shaking, smiles, and laughter went on for quite some time. The tortoise, oblivious to the din, sat in the grass and started to eat within about 2 minutes of hitting the ground. We then all took photos to document this historic event, and began to work our way back to shore. Along the way down I enjoyed the beauty of the habitat. The mixture of ecosystems, plant communities, and diversity of wildlife along the way. Near shore, a Galapagos hawk nest was perched in a prickly pear tree. An adult peered over the side of the nest as if to say “stay back” and others were circling in the area. Doves flew by. This is an incredibly beautiful, peaceful place.
A Galapagos hawk surveys the activites.
Back at the beach, the people who had started the tortoises on their ascent today had done a little beach clean up. Although the Galapagos are 600 miles from the nearest land, marine debris and trash regularly washes ashore. When in these remote areas, if possible, people working for the park will do what they can to de-litter all the accessible areas. It’s a wonderful and important service.
The afternoon was restful. The students were getting their last direct contact that they would have with people for 10 weeks. While there’s a chance that they’ll get a mid-term visit to check supplies, there are no guarantees — only if time permits. The sea lions came back and there seemed to be more of them. After dinner, we said our good-bye’s to the students and they got into the panga, and were dropped on the beach. The ship pulled anchor and we headed out of harbor. As the ship went into motion, swallow tailed gulls started following along. This is the only nocturnal species of gull in the world, and 1 of 2 gull species endemic to Galapagos. They are very likely the most beautiful gull in the world. They are easily seen in several of the tourist visiting sites, sometimes on nests with eggs or young. It was a wonderful treat to get to see them fly alongside the boat. I finally decided to try to capture an image using my camera on an “open” setting with flash. It seems to have worked, but the white dot is not necessarily National Geographic quality! Sleeping was pretty easy that night. The boat in motion was more stable, and everyone was exhausted from all the work on Pinta.
We pulled into port at 6:oo a.m. Thursday morning, right on schedule.
That might be the final day on Pinta Island, but now that Dr. Flanagan is back in Santa Cruz, there’s much to do. Come back to read the next installment.
Written by Dr. Joe Flanagan
