Plazas Sur

After lunch we anchored just off the Plazas Channel near eastern Santa Cruz for our final excursion of the trip, a nature walk covering the small islet of Plazas Sur.

Sea lion pups were playing in the water and along the shore. Soon we came upon several yellow land iguanas. This islet has a very healthy colony of iguanas that sit underneath the tree-like Prickly Pear cacti, waiting for a pad or fruit to fall off. Although this seems to be a poor foraging technique, reducing energy consumption is a great survival trait in an area where there is little or no water throughout the year. We spotted a few male marine iguanas that had established themselves in breeding territories. As this islet is small the breeding ground of both iguana species overlap. It is not uncommon to find males of both species fighting against each other for mating grounds. Male marine iguanas even try to court female land iguanas. This is the only place in the Galapagos where hybrids of marine and land iguanas have been found.

As we continued along our walk we came upon a female sea lion in labor and paused to watch her struggles for awhile. The naturalists said there was no way to know when she would give birth - could be soon or in a day or so; we couldn't stay long enough to see it.

Finally, at the end of the islet we saw a colony of bachelor sea lions living out their days on the picturesque cliffs and then it was time to go back to the ship for a farewell cocktail and the video presentation by staff photographer/videographer Ivan Vasquez.