Weekly Photo – Galapagos Marine Iguana
This fun little guy was living in a brackish swamp on Isabela Island. He is a Marine Iguana and he was about two and a half feet long. I shot this picture on day 5 of our Galapagos vacation. In certain areas, these are literally everywhere. I think they are my favorite of all the Galapagos wildlife. When they are ready to rest, they just let their bodies drop – they kind of look dead – but they are just sleeping/resting.
They have the ability to process sea water internally. They expel the extra salt through their nostrils – it is really cool to see. To do this, they just give a good snort and the super salty snot comes out in a bit of a mist – but with tornado force. We managed to get this on video, so we’ll be adding this over the next couple of weeks.
I really like the turtle because it reminds me of a prehistoric creature. The pink Flamingos are nice as well. I found a turle along the French Basin TRail and it was an agressive type that made a snap at my cane. Good thing it was steel. I thought if a kid came along and went over too it, it may bite them. I got ahold of it at its rear near the hind legs and it. tried to bite me but couldn’t reach so i started carrying it toward the pond and it dug me with sharp claws. I was not happy because i never even had it close to the pond.
[...] reality check about the housing in Cuenca and the weekly photo from Bryan is an up close shot of a Marine Iguana from their trip to the [...]
Very cool picture!, you always did like Iguanas!