Monday 9 May 2011

Giant tortoises and hammerhead sharks

(sigh)...  Well, what's happened since we last checked in?  Friday, myself and some of the other volunteers went to post our usual bulletins of ogeanographic data around the town, and we stopped off at the Darwin Research Station.  There, they have 'el centro de crianza' which is a hatchery center for baby giant tortoises.  Since a host of invasive species (such as cats and rats) have taken a toll on the eggs survival, the different species eggs are reared here until the hatchlings are old enough to defend themselves in the wild.  At the research station, they also have Lonesome George, the last surviving individual of the Pinta Island tortoises.  Que lastima! (what a pity!)  He has some girlfriends from Wolf Island with him, which is the species most closely related gentically.  There are also a few other giants there.... :)



Sunday I decided to get my feet wet again after a long sojourn from diving.  As a park volunteer, I get a deal on diving from a local shop, but I have to help out with bringing in all the gear from the boat and rinsing it (one of these days I want to get paid to work again!).  We went to a place called Gordon's Rocks, which are just two or three rocky volcano tops sticking out of the water.  Diving was great, saw some hammerhead sharks (!), but the visibility was poor, and the current was so strong that almost everybody was exhausted and out of air after 35 min!  No problem, there's always next weekend!

Besos y abrazos de Galapagos!

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