1 2 3 GALÁPAGOS BIG 15 4 5 METROPOLITAN TOURING INTRODUCES THE BIG 15 It’s quite simple: The more iconic species you see on the Galápagos Islands, the more rewarding and memorable your experience will be! When it comes to wildlife, no place on Earth compares to the Galápagos Islands. Lumbering giant tortoises and curious sea lion pups amid dramatic volcanic landscapes let you feel what it was like before humans emerged on the planet. The vast diversity of animal life is what attracts visitors to this remote paradise, impressing explorers from all corners of the World. 2 But the islands are far-flung, spread out over 138,000 Km (53,300 sq mi). Because of this vastness, deciding where to go and what to observe in the archipelago can be quite a challenge. To tailor our itineraries and enable guests to absorb the best balance of Galápagos wildlife, we sought consensus among scholars, our Naturalist Guides and island connoisseurs to choose the archipelago’s most unique and fascinating wildlife. The list resulted in our BIG 15, and it captures the most iconic Galápagos wildlife. This is how explorers choose their ultimate voyage; here we unfold for you the great features and greatness of the BIG 15. 6 7 1 2 8 9 10 1 Galapagos Albatross 8 Galapagos Hawk 2 Blue-Footed Booby 9 Land Iguana 3 Nazca Booby 10 Marine Iguana 4 Red-Footed Booby 11 Santa Fe Land Iguana 5 Flightless Cormorant 12 Galapagos Penguin 6 American Flamingo 13 Galapagos Sea Lion 7 Frigatebirds: Great 14 Galapagos Fur Seal and Magnificent 15 Galapagos Giant Tortoise 3 4 11 12 5 6 7 13 14 15 8 9 Pinta GALÁPAGOS Island Marchena Genovesa Island BIG 15 Island BY METROPOLITAN TOURING Darwin Bay Prince Philip’s Steps LAT 0º00’00’’ Punta Vicente Roca EQUATOR Buccaneer Cove Galápagos Albatross Blue-footed Booby Nazca Booby Tagus Cove Puerto Egas Bartolome Island Punta Espinoza Santiago Island North Seymour Island Urbina Bay Rabida Island START/END END Red-footed Booby Flightless Cormorant American Flamingo Fernandina Baltra START Island Las Bachas Itabaca Channel South Plaza Island Santa Cruz Island Twin Craters Charles Frigatebirds: Darwin Galápagos Hawk Land Iguana Punta Pitt Great and Magnificent Puerto Ayora Research Station San Cristobal Isabela Santa Fe Island Island Island END START Pto. Baquerizo Moreno Cerro Colorado Tortoise Breeding Centre Marine Iguana Santa Fe Iguana Galápagos Penguin Post Office Bay Punta Cormorant / Champion Islet Floreana Island Gardner Bay Punta Suarez Española Island Galápagos Sea Lion Galápagos Fur Seal Galápagos Giant Tortoise 10 11 0º00’00’’ Española Likely to Present be Seen Yacht La Pinta 4D/3N 5D/4N 8D/7N Eastern Northern Western GALÁPAGOS Yacht Isabela II 5D/4N 5D/4N 7D/6N ALBATROSS Central Southern Northern Santa Cruz II 5D/4N 6D/5N 5D/4N Eastern Western Northern Island Exclusive Species: found only on Española Island leave Española before the winds fade away in mid-January. Being so large and heavy, any albatross staying on after GALÁPAGOS Also called the waved albatross, the Galápagos albatross that yearly change in weather patterns literally would be Finch Bay Package (Phoebastria irrorata) is the largest bird in the Galápagos, stranded until winds pick up again around April; hence, ALBATROSS 5D/4N 4D/3N 8D/7N with a wingspan of up to 250 centimetres (8.2 feet). They eggs are laid between April and June and incubated for Mon-Fri Fri-Mon Mon-Mon breed exclusively on Española Island, except for a handful of two months. Albatross feed mainly on small fish, squid, and albatross on the continental Ecuadorean island of La Plata. crustaceans. Close to 35,000 breeding pairs exist, but they have been considered critically endangered since 2007 due to the When seasons switch back to the cooler, but dryer months, vulnerability of having a single main breeding site. Albatross the albatross return to Española – most of them having have a spectacular mating dance of circling and audible scored many thousands of miles of foraging trips to clacking of beaks. Often considered fully monogamous, the coastal oceans of mainland Ecuador and Peru in the long-term behavioural research has proven that individuals process! They, in fact, spend very little time of their long do mate with birds with which they don’t share a nest. lives atop dry ground. They either fly or sit calmly at sea most of their life. Land is for these big birds only a matter Unlike most other animal species of the Galápagos, the of reproduction. Among the BIG15, Galápagos albatross can waved albatross has a fairly predictable breeding cycle, only be seen on itineraries that explore Española Island in and for a very good reason: all couples and hatchlings must the southeast of the archipelago. 12 13 Marchena 0º00’00’’ Bartolomé Santiago Fernandina North Seymour Rábida South Plaza Santa Cruz Pinzón Isabela Santa Fe San Cristóbal Floreana Española Likely to Present be Seen Yacht La Pinta 4D/3N 5D/4N 8D/7N Eastern Northern Western Yacht Isabela II BLUE-FOOTED 5D/4N 5D/4N 7D/6N Central Southern Northern BOOBY Santa Cruz II 5D/4N 6D/5N 5D/4N Eastern Western Northern Best known for some of their notably colourful anatomical 1.5 metres (4.9 feet). While they also nest in other parts of Latin features, the three species of boobies that nest on the America between the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Peru, around Finch Bay Package BLUE-FOOTED Galápagos belong to the Sulidae family of seabirds. half of all blue-footed boobies live on the Galápagos. 5D/4N 4D/3N 8D/7N BOOBY Sometimes looking comical on land, they catch fish Mon-Fri Fri-Mon Mon-Mon with spectacular plunge dives, often chasing fish while At the same time, while these are generally the most commonly underwater. The Galápagos boobies are endemic as encountered boobies, they happen to be the ones with the sub-species. Visitors love the blue-footed boobies (Sula smallest population. The most important breeding colonies exist nebouxii). Their conspicuous, unreal-looking blue feet on Española Island and North Seymour. But the dramatic sight fascinate visitors, as well as their famous, amusing mating of plunge-diving boobies may be witnessed on any given day dance, during which the male shows off its feet in up-and- throughout the archipelago’s waters. Reliant on diving into the down movements to attract females. sea to feed, their nostrils are fused, hence it breathes through the corners of its mouth. Unusually for boobies, they may raise The most attractive feet for potential mates are those of a more than one chick at a time, although during times of scarce more turquoise blue, rather than the deep blue. The shade food competition is harsh and first-hatched chicks may kill their of blue is indicative of how good a male is at feeding himself, smaller sibling (siblicide). The blue-footed booby is considered being linked to the amount of food it consumes. Females non-threatened. All itineraries will have contact with blue-footed are actually slightly larger than males, measuring up to 90 boobies, and some explore their nesting colonies. centimetres (36 inches) in length, with a wingspan of up to 14 15 Genovesa 0º00’00’’ Santiago Fernandina North Seymour Santa Cruz South Plaza Isabela San Cristóbal Floreana Española Likely to Present be Seen Yacht La Pinta 4D/3N 5D/4N 8D/7N Eastern Northern Western NAZCA Yacht Isabela II 5D/4N 5D/4N 7D/6N BOOBY Central Southern Northern Santa Cruz II 5D/4N 6D/5N 5D/4N Eastern Western Northern Boobies have similar feeding strategies, but they tend to These birds mainly nest along the shoreline, up to 100 compete very harshly for nesting areas, particularly the metres (300 feet) inland on Genovesa. Hatchlings regularly Nazca booby (Sula granti). Some scholars argue they are a commit siblicide, mostly by pushing the smaller brother or NAZCA Finch Bay Package subspecies of the masked boobies, although a 2002 study sister out of the nest, without the parents taking any action. 5D/4N 4D/3N 8D/7N provides genetic evidence that the Nazca booby is indeed a Female Nazca boobies do lay two eggs four to five days BOOBY Mon-Fri Fri-Mon Mon-Mon separate species, diverging from the masked booby around apart so that, if the first is broken or eaten, the second may 400,000-500,000 years ago. It most obviously looks yet produce an offspring. When flying, they can be identified different from the masked booby by having a shorter, flatter by the black wing and tail feathers. Despite the toughness orange rather than yellow beak. This largest booby present of its competitive life, it is also listed as non-threatened, on the Galápagos, covered in snow-white plumage and with a population estimated at around 30,000, but its global with black feet, is the most violently competitive Darwinist number is estimated to be declining. among them all. They are bad neighbours, both to their own species, and to their cousins, the blue-footed boobies. 16 17 Genovesa 0º00’00’’ San Cristóbal Floreana Likely to Present be Seen Yacht La Pinta 4D/3N 5D/4N 8D/7N Eastern Northern Western Yacht Isabela II 5D/4N 5D/4N 7D/6N RED-FOOTED Central Southern Northern BOOBY Santa Cruz II 5D/4N 6D/5N 5D/4N Eastern Western Northern Limited Distribution Species: found on Genovesa, Punta with a wingspan of up to 145 centimetres (57 inches). Its beak Finch Bay Package RED-FOOTED Pitt (the eastern tip of San Cristóbal); small numbers breed is light blue, turning to pink around the mouth and above the 5D/4N 4D/3N 8D/7N on one of Floreana’s satellite islets, and a minute number eyes, and its feet are characteristically red, with white claws.