Galapagos Trip - 3

Hi, As the day was not very nice and I was still not 100% I chose a light activity.  Thus, Ruthe, I, and Ellen and her family all did our own thing on this date and I am grouping our photos according to who took them.    I took the first group.

This probably is a mother and her pup.

Most of the islands are of volcanic origin and the solidified lava is everywhere.  Also, even though located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, most of the islands are partially or totally arid.

Small birds, like this Yellow Warbler, tended to flit around and making them difficult to photograph.

A pair of female Great Frigate birds are perched in a dead tree.

Ruthe probably took another Zodiac ride where she saw this Brown Pelican grooming itself,

this pair of Blue Boobies courting, and

this Blue Booby posed on some rocks.

Sally Lightfoot crabs were all over the rocks near the ocean on many, if not all, of the islands.

Bill caught this pair of Black Necked Stilts during the morning hike.

In the afternoon Ellen and her family went ashore at Post Office Bay to visit the old rum barrel used by whalers in the 18th century to send letters home (below).  While they were disembarking from the Zodiacs this Ray cruised by.

Outbound whalers would leave letters for back home in this barrel (although I don't know it is the original) and ships headed home would stop so their sailors could pick up mail.  They would sort through the mail in the barrel and take letters addressed to areas they could reach for hand delivery. 
Here Scott has his right hand on some post cards and Ryan poses with a goat skull.

Goats were a real problem for awhile.  They were brought to the island by visitors in the 18th century, e.g., pirates and whalers, and set free to serve as living larders.  However, over time their numbers increased to over 80,000 causing substantial harm to this unique ecosystem so they were hunted and now are almost gone.

Thanks for looking.