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Animals Covid Galapagos

The wildlife in Galapagos amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Author g4l4p4g0s
  • Posted on 24th April 202005/13/2020
  • Activities, Animals, Cruises, Fragata Yacht, Galapagos Islands, Nature
  • 0

The world has gone through some pretty rough changes in the last few months with the appearance of novel coronavirus, which has affected thousands of lives around the world, and has had an impact in the way businesses develop their regular activities. The Fragata Yacht team has not been a stranger to that reality, but we keep our hopes that everything will return to normal soon enough, so we can continue to deliver the best experiences to tourists from all parts of the globe!

In the spirit of giving everyone a little bit of that same hope, we wanted to take this opportunity and tell you about what the animals have been doing in everybody’s absence. We’ve been surprised to see some very interesting, curious and even funny behavior from some species, as they noticed there’s no one around to make them #StayHome!

Sealions have visited the town!

TikTok user @kekatab recently uploaded a video which features the strangest of images in Galapagos history! A 15-second showcase of wild sealions walking through one of the islands’ towns, as if it were a common thing for them to do. And there were not just one or two, it was a small group, considerable in size, of young adult sealions marching in line, making sure everyone is complying with the #QuedateEnCasa recommendations and that they’re being safe. Funnily enough, they’re breaking the “no group gatherings” rule, which is also very important!

The video shows them walking down a street, quickly paced. Galapagos wildlife is usually not intimidated by people, and most of the time, little interaction with the animals in encouraged, always respecting a safe distance so they don’t get scared. It’s very rare to see them do as they did in the video, and it goes to show how much sealions rely on each other to explore and have adventures!

Their walk is very distinctive, too! As they move, they swing from one side to the other, as if they were dancing. Either way, their sense of journey is ever so great that they couldn’t resist taking this opportunity to enjoy themselves a bit!

La Cumbre’s eruption and its impact on animal habitats

It’s been a few months since it happened, and all news media was flooded with this event. We can’t help but mention it because, even though people are not coming into the islands, La Cumbre volcano’s sudden spike in activity and lava running all around affected several species’ habitats, even threatening their lives. It happened during the night, so what could be seen from afar was the bright red light of the molten magma covering the island’s body.

Fernandina is the youngest island in the archipelago. And its volcano has been erupting constantly as recently as the year 2009. Because of its temperature and the presence of lava, its surface is mostly rock-strewn, with little to none presence of vegetation. Such a harsh environment makes species from the archipelago elusive of Fernandina, as it has been evidenced in recent years, that only marine iguanas inhabit this island by the hundreds.

Penguins, sea lions and pelicans have also been seen on the island, but on small amounts, and they’re likely to have been avoiding visiting Fernandina. With scarce human presence in the archipelago, the wildlife has given itself the license to interact with its surroundings in new, surprising ways! This “new normal” that has settled in for the past few weeks has given the animals at Galapagos the opportunity to experience the islands like never before, and have shown changes in their behavior which demonstrate their happiness and satisfaction. An extraordinary sight, indeed!

Post Tags

  • animals
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • ecotourism
  • Ecuador
  • fernandina island
  • Fragata Yacht
  • Galapagos
  • Quarantine
  • sealions
  • Tourims
  • Wildlife

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