There were moments on the Bus on our way to the giant
tortoises when I looked out of my window that I could swear I was back in
Hawaii. The vegetation was exactly the
same, exactly! In fact, I passed a lava rock wall that was identical to dozens
in Hawaii making my experience that much more surreal. But I was not in Hawaii but rather ¼ around
the planet from my home 6 times zones separated requiring nearly 14 hours of
air flight.
Overall, it was difficult to wrap my mind and imagination around
the feelings I was experiencing in the Galapagos Islands. As one who takes the geography and the magnificent
beauty of Hawaii for granted after living there for nearly 37 years, my
interest in biology has focused on human development and the pathophysiology of
critically ill newborn infants. It has not
focused on the myriads of earth’s remaining living creatures whose diversity,
size, movement, intelligence, beauty and habitat has heretofore evaded my
interest and curiosity.
Still I was in the presence of three individuals who by
nature are attracted to, captivated by, and have great affection and respect for
the living creatures in the wild, and at least two of them possess a remarkable
mental library of knowledge of the details of their habitat and existence. Notably, all three know worlds more than I do
about the animal kingdom. Without them I
could not tell the difference between a flamingo and Flamenco, and could barely
differentiate a pelican from a republican.
This made my experience an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me - to
cross the boundaries of my limited existence and learn something new of the
world we live.
And to achieve my goal, I
had to ask a lot of stupid questions to my travelling companions. I thank them for being so patient! And if indeed, anyone of them was appalled by
my flagrant ignorance of the animal kingdom, they kept this to themselves and
did not reveal their disdain or shock at how little one can know about the
earth and its creatures.
To be sure, I pretended to have an excuse for my ignorance
for the animals in the wild. I had a bad
start in life and a genuine distrust of animals ever since I was four years old
and a neighbor’s dog snacked on my right leg for lunch (never mind it was just
a small bite, it seemed enormous at the time). It took about 50 years and Hunter,
my son David’s dog, to make me appreciate how man’s best friend can be man’s
best friend and to understand the affection and co-dependencies involved, as
well as my own growing feelings and regard for Hunter over the years as he
became the stabilizing influence in his home.
And it was a difficult witnessing his deterioration and disabilities as
he became old, and we mourned his passing as if he were human.
I suppose the most pressing quest I set for myself during the
three days in the Galapagos Islands was to appreciate something unique about
each of the animal species that we were there to visit. I had a great start
with my experience with the hummingbirds…how can anything compare? And I won’t bore you or myself trying to be
smart or witty about those animals that I know nothing about, or if they failed
to strike my imagination in any meaningful way. This introduction will indeed be followed by
more blogs with more Frances pictures and abreviated explanations of the
animals we encountered.
I have chosen two aspects to emphasize in my introduction to
the Galapagos Islands. First, almost as
an epiphany, a global panorama of the islands emerged in my mind which transcended the
individuality and beauty of the animals encountered. The Galapagos Islands have
achieved something very few, if any, societies have achieved - a natural and comfortable
commingling of indigenous wild animals and local humans, smothered with a dose
of outsider humans – the tourists from around the world including city folks
like me. Animals are free to come and go
without fear and without restriction. Even
a pathetic scaredy-cat like me felt totally comfortable reaching within a few feet
and even inches of the wildlife. And
they were similarly unaffected by the large two footed creatures peering
through sleek metallic devices, clicking incessantly and nonsensically
bantering a monotone of drivel. They
could care less, oblivious to my existence, going about their business as usual
looking for their next bite to eat, a place to rest in the shade or to pose and
preen looking for their mate. None of the land animals, none of the birds, none
of the sea animals winced at my presence, and some actually enjoyed the
endearment and quizzical attention. You would
really have to be there to truly appreciate this!
{Compare this to civilization where humans hide behind locked doors, where they kill out of boredom, revenge, and profit. Civilization where animals are caged in zoos, their movements restricted, tamed to obey their captors with whips and other forms of corporeal torture, waiting for the moment that they can turn the tables and seek retribution.}
Another point to emphasize are the colors and textures and
landscape of the Galapagos Islands, especially the colors of life, varied and
vibrant. From dry to wet, from whittled
down vegetation to lush green, from mountains to flatlands, from vital blue
green oceans caressing grainy soft black or yellow sandy beaches, to dry abandoned
looking dust covered terrain. And the
colors of the animals match those of the terrain where they live. The marine iguanas were black like the lava rock
they rested on at the seashore, but the land iguanas were yellow and
white camouflaged by the thick inland vegetation. Every animal species in the Galapagos Islands
seemed to have its secret for remaining invisible to predators, which
ostensibly is a good thing at least for them.
But this species survival strategy of nature contrasts sharply with what
we observed serving another fundamental purpose, the propagation of the
species.
Two examples are the Magnificent Frigate and the Blue Footed
Booby. To attract a mate, the all
black-colored male frigate magically inflates a huge bright red pouch stretching
from below its chin and adorned with a few linear black dots projecting
laterally. If you haven’t seen this
before, it is quite an amazing site to behold.
These pouches are much larger than their heads, and can been seen from
hundreds of yards away. Indeed, they appear quite effective in attracting the
attention of humans and hopefully for their intended target - to perk the
interest of a vulnerable female frigate looking intently for her mate. To me, these pouches look like a cross
between a balloon and a Chinese lantern.
As the “exposed” frigate takes off in flight, you can witness the red
pouch rapidly deflate as it bounces and bobs freely until the job is done.
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The Blue Footed Booby is not just a pretty bird with a
flashy name! The blue feet are aqua blue
and very easy to identify. But it’s not
just the color of the feet, its what they do to attract their female partner
that is the big news. To attract its mate, the Blue Footed Booby dances the
dance of love. First with its head
propping up and forward, next a whistle, then the wings spread wide to demonstrate
its power and beauty, the complex routine ends with the right foot lifted up
first to step in place followed by the left foot (or is it left foot
first?). There are a few pics that
depict much of this sequence that will be shared in future blogs.
Animals in the wild need protection from predators but also
need to stand out to attract their mates. This duality belies much of the conflict of life in most species. Nevertheless, the colors of life create a beautiful painting, one in which
you have to look very carefully to identify the camouflaged creatures hiding out
(like in a find the animal in the picture game), while creating the backdrop for
the brightly colored creatures glowing with movement waiting for that fateful
moment of life to create more life, more blue dancing feet and red glowing
lanterns that light up the dreary monotone of their surrounding world.
A sampling follows of some of my favorite Frances Pictures
of the life in the Galapagos, known from here on as FP’s. Stay tuned for more..........
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