This is the second part of a two-part batch of photos by Matt Young (part 1 is here). His IDs and captions are indented, and you can click on the photos to enlarge them.
I was in the Galápagos Islands during the end of December 2005, and the beginning of January 2006, bearing my trusty Canon PowerShot S30, with 3 megapixels and a 3X zoom. I took one or two pictures through an 8X monocular, but other than that I was on my own.
Mammals. The only mammals I saw, other than bipedal, were Galápagos sea lions, Zalophus wollebaeki.
A little snack:
And a nap:
Some geological features. Landscapes.
Lava tunnel. You could have easily crawled inside.
Lava flow.
Impurity.
Stubborn little plant.
Invertebrates. Sally Lightfoot crabs, Grapsus grapsus.
Painted locust, Schistocerca melanocera.
Tourist. Not exactly an invertebrate, but looking kind of spineless at the end of a hot day.
And for good measure, Machu Picchu.
Thank you for starting off our first morning of a new year with these pics. I am particularly taken by the raw, unweathered geological landscape features.
And thanks to Jerry for posting them! Regarding “unweathered”: I was surprised how sharp were the edges on the lava flows – you would have been cut if you fell on them. I do not recall how long they were supposed to have been there, but already that little plant was beginning to colonize the area. The lava tunnel was in a more weathered area, and if I had noticed what you noticed, I would have organized the pictures slightly differently.
Tnx matt. I don’t know anything about geology, but i was surprised by the lack of abrasive smoothing on an oceanic island which i would think is generally pretty windy. Yes life is incredibly insistent and persistent … always seems to find a toe-hold.
Nice pics. Thank you.
Very cool pictures from what was apparently a very hot day. I did not know about the grasshopper. It is described as being endemic to most of the islands.
The pictures were taken over several days, but yes, it was hot. Regarding the grasshopper, my strategy is to shoot first, ask questions later.
This was a very enjoyable set- thanks for sharing. The bright red of the Sally-lightfoot crabs and the bright green algae/moss was especially striking, along with the “impure” lava flow.
Excellent photos, thanks! (Somehow I missed them when they were posted.)