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Galapagos Cruise Review: Polaris

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Santa Cruz Island

Our day on Santa Cruz was an outstanding one. We anchored in Academy Bay early in the morning, and we started our activities at the Charles Darwin Research Center where we learnt a great deal about the emblem of Galápagos, the giant land tortoise. 

We visited several different corrals and found these giants having breakfast. They were very active! We noticed one male who tried to mate with all the females in his corral (see today’s photo). This male tortoise is almost as famous as Lonesome George, whom we also saw today (the sole survivor of the Pinta Island species of tortoise). We call him Diego because he was brought from the San Diego Zoo. He was originally born on Hood Island and was sent back to the Archipelago to help the only two other males found on Hood. Diego has increased the gene pool of this sub-species of tortoise that was nearly extinct due to over exploitation. In total, there were 14 adults found on the entire island in the mid 1960’s when the National Park and Research Station did their first inventory of the wild tortoise populations. Now, thanks to Diego’s eagerness to breed and the success of the captive rearing program, the number of tortoises repatriated to Hood Island is more than 1.500. This is one of the best success stories of saving a species from the brink of extinction, and is a fine example of what can be done to save unique species of animals. 

Following some quick and pleasant shopping in Puerto Ayora, we boarded buses and traveled to the highlands for a delicious lunch. Then we visited the tortoises in their natural habitat, and hiked around a pair of pit craters, Los Gemelos (the Twins) that were surrounded with lush endemic vegetation, and populated by countless singing birds. 

After these many sights and sounds, we came back on board for our evening recap, and dinner. And to finish the day we enjoyed folk music and dances performed by a local band. Many of us still had energy to join in the dancing! 

Author: Gilda Gonzalez, Naturalist