South Plaza Island, Galápagos Islands

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Galápagos Islands and Macchu Picchu 2022
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Today, we went to South Plaza, one of two islands that broke away from the large island of Santa Cruz.  Both the islands were formed by geological uplift and tilt to the north, with cliffs on their southern coasts.  We even saw some exposed coral that used to be submerged.  Despite its small size to a large number of species including sea lions, land iguanas, marine iguanas and cliffs full of nesting birds including Swallow-tailed Gulls, Red-billed Tropicbirds, Audobon’s Shearwaters, Nazca Boobies and many others.  One interesting thing about the iguanas here is that, with a male marine iguana and a female land iguana, they can actually produce viable young that have some elements of both.  The actual scientific name for these is “weirdos” and they are all sterile.  I guess you can’t mess with Mother Nature.  Anyway, we hiked around the island, which is covered with “Sesuvium,” a succulent plant that looks a lot like ice plant.  It is green in the wet season, but red in the dry season (it’s more or less dormant there).  Another shocker were the giant prickly pear cactus.  The trunk looks like many other trees (minus all the spines) but, in reality, the insides are a web of fibers and capillaries that store water for long periods of time.  Beneath one of these cactuses, there was a female land iguana that was munching on a cactus paddle.  They are generally yellow with brown spots and the more yellow they are, the more healthy the are (I believe their “yellowness” comes from eating a lot of prickly pear flowers and fruit).  Another thing that was quite odd was the large number of shiny (almost sparkling) white rocks that looked like marble and contrasted with the rest of the black volcanic rock.  It turns out that this is actually sea lion poop that has been polished by large numbers of sea lions that rub their bodies on it as they move across the rocks!  Hmmm.  As we continued around the island, we came across the sea lion bachelor colony (all the males that aren’t alpha and don’t have a harem) and it kind of smelled like a bachelor pad.  This is also nesting season and we saw many new hatchlings (especially Nazca Boobies) that were very cool to see.  Anyway, it was a beautiful walk!  We were supposed to go on a hike to Dragon Hill this afternoon to see lots of land iguanas (seen them), flamingos (seen them) and lagoons (seen them).  I know that sounds a little cold, but we have been pushing pretty hard and we needed a rest — and to give our olfactory senses a bit of a break! Tomorrow we head to Santa Cruz Island to do a community project planting trees on the island!

Interesting landscape on South Plaza. The succulent ground cover (Sesuvium) was just starting to turn red, marking the end of the rainy season.
The prickly pear cactus we are familiar with grow very close to the ground. These look like trees with large trunks. But they have a secret…
… this is the interior of the “trunk;” it’s like a sponge and can hold a lot of water, meaning it will stay hydrated even during the dry season.
And the cacti were full of yellow blooms and fruit.
Our first view of a land iguana. Their color comes from eating the prickly pear fruit.
The cactus also provides shelter and security for the Darwin finches.
As we hiked along, we saw lots of these white, shiny rocks. With all the other rocks being black, we wondered why these were like this. It turns out it is sea lion poop that has been polished by their bodies constantly burnishing it as they go across the rocks!
A sea lion sunning himself on the “poop rocks.”
On the south side of the island there is about a 75 foot rocky cliff. A lot of seabirds nest there and it provides a way down for the bachelor sea lion colony.
A Swallow-tailed Gull family with a new chick
Beautiful view over to the main island of Santa Cruz
A different colored lava lizard bidding us adieu!
This entry was posted in Ecuador, Galápagos Islands, National Park/Monument, South America, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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