Punta Vicente Roca on Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

Isabela Island is the largest of the Galápagos Islands, with an area of 4,586 km² and a length of 100 km. By itself, it is larger than all the other islands in the chain combined and it has a little under 2000 permanent inhabitants. The island straddles the equator; we crosed it twice as we circumnavigated it.

The Galapagos flightless cormorant is an endemic species to Galapagos, and is not only the heaviest cormorant species, but also the only one out of 29 species which cannot fly. They are therefore confined to the lava shoreline and beaches of Isabela and Fernandina Islands. These were so close to our panga that you could have touched them--in fact, one nipped the bum of one of our co-passengers!

BRown noddies in Galapagos are closely related to the tern family and are the largest of all noddies, easily distinguished by its cousin the Black noddy thanks to its larger size and feathers. It resembles a pigeon of sorts, with a greyish-white cap at the top of their heads that fades into the dark brown feathers that cover the rest of their body. Their white eye-ring is a distinctive feature in adults. The brown noddy is rarely seen near the land as a result of being pelagic, flying out for extended periods in the warm tropical waters, searching for small fish and/or squid, swooping low and using how-dipping and contact-dipping to catch its prey. They nest on these shoreline cliffs.