The
Pacific
trade
winds slightly shift the predominant currents north
and south, determining the two seasons of Galapagos
During
the
dry season,
the sky is often overcast but without rain, while the
sea is choppy, causing sea sickness to many visitors;
The
wet season
brings frequent drizzling rain showers alternated by
clear blue skies, while the sea is smoother;
The "telescope
effect" enhances the elevation effects on insular
mountains, lowering temperatures and increasing humidity
with elevation;
Three currents
affect the climate of Galapagos: the cold Humboldt
Current, the warm Panama Current and the nutrients rich
Cromwell current;
The
Cromwell
Current raises nutrient rich water from deeper
elevations to the surface, which enhances plankton
growth, which feeds the food chain, bringing large
fishes, cetaceans and oceanic birds to the marine
reserve;
The dry
season is the best time for watching
oceanic birds
and scuba diving;
The best
way to appreciate the Galapagos Marine Reserve is by
scuba diving;
There are about 45
species of sharks frequenting the reserve, including
Whale Sharks,
Hammerheads and Manta Rays;
While
legally protected, the poaching of
sharks
for their fins is still a common practice in the
Galapagos Marine Reserve;
Only a
few species of hard skeleton and a few more soft
skeleton
corals
live in the East Pacific Ocean, including Galapagos, but
there is no reef formation;
Coastal formations like
lagoons and
mangroves
are essential ecosystems of the reserve;
The bright
orange Sally Lightfoot Crabs is common from Mexico to Peru.
Marine turtles
are among of the oldest living reptiles, predating the
dinosaurs;
Green turtles
are the only marine turtle species nesting on Galapagos;
The
Galapagos Marine
Iguana is an amphibious reptile feeding on marine algae. It
dives to 10m deep to graze.
Marine Iguanas expel
salt from glands near their noses;
Marine Iguanas are the only
sea-going lizards on earth;
There are 8 species of Cetaceans commonly passing
through Galapagos, 5 whale species, 2 dolphins and orcas;
Blue whales are the largest
mammal passing through the archipelago;
The Galapagos Sea Lion is a
subspecies of the California Sea Lions, endemic to Ecuador;
Non-endemic Fur Seals are les famous, but equally
abundant as the Sea Lions;
The world's smallest penguins
live on Galapagos;
Frigate birds have such wide
wingspans, that they can't take off from the water; they may stay on the wing up
to several weeks when away from the shore;
With under 2,000 Flightless
Cormorants, these birds are among the world's most vulnerable bird species;
The Waved Albatross is famous
for its courtship ritual, with rapid clacking of the bill and “whoo-hoo” sounds;
Waved Albatrosses mating for
life leave Galapagos in December to return in April to the same nesting site;
While not endemic, Galapagos is one of the few places where you can actually
watch one of the 35,000 Waved Albatrosses worldwide;
There are 3 species of boobies: The largest, the
Nazca Booby, the most common, the Blue Footed Booby and the smallest, the Red
footed Booby, the only one breeding in trees.
The 13,300,000 ha (51,000 sq mi)
Galapagos
Islands Marine Reserve
surrounds the islands of the Galapagos National Park and
protects an unusually rich food rich ecosystem teeming with
fish, that in turn attract oceanic birds. A
UNESCO World
Heritage Site, the Galapagos Islands Marine
Biological Reserve is the largest
marine reserve in a third world country and among the very
largest worldwide.
Map of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Click to enlarge.
Map of the Galapagos Marine
Biological Reserve.
Zoning map of the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
Currents and climate
of the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve
The Archipelago is strongly impacted by
trade winds of the
Pacific Ocean, which impact the effect the
currents that dominate the surrounding waters of
the Galapagos Islands Marine Reserve.
From January - April the winds quiet down,
causing the Humboldt Current to shift South and
the surrounding waters of the islands becomes
warmer as the warm tropical Panama current moves
in with warmer water, thus setting off the
warmer rainy season.
The cold oceanic Cromwell current
is nutrient rich, thus creating the abundance of marine life
in the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
Alternating marine currents Galapagos determine the
Galapagos seasons: Warm (red) Panama current from the North, alternates with the
cold (blue) current from the south. Both collide with the deep cold
Cromwell current from the West.
In June the trade
winds become stronger, pushing the Humboldt
Current north, thus cooling the water, while
making the sea rougher.
During this period, the sky is mostly overcast
but without precipitation, while the sea is
choppy, causing many tourist becoming seasick.
The "telescope effect" enhances the elevation
effects on insular mountains, lowering
temperatures and increasing humidity with
elevation;
Cold the Humboldt Current, warm, the Panama
Current and deep marine currents come together
in and around the Archipelago, thus profoundly
impacting the climate and the oceanic ecosystem.
With the islands
rising steeply from the deep ocean floor, most
of the marine reserve is deep oceanic water,
with only the some coasts consisting of beaches,
mangroves and shallow waters. Nevertheless,
these shallow shores are extremely important for
many marine wildlife, such as the Marine Iguana,
Marine Turtles,
shore birds, and young fishes.
From December To
May, the water and air temperatures are higher,
which results in a somewhat higher humidity of
the air and brief daily drizzling rains and fog
at the higher elevations. Nevertheless, the rain
showers are followed by periods of sunshine,
making this season the sunniest of the year.
The moisty
conditions cause the flowers to peak blooming
from March - April. This is also the the
breeding season for sea Turtles, land Tortoises
and Sea Lions.
As the Humboldt
Current runs through the archipelago during the
dry season, it brings much colder water which
also cools the air temperatures on the Islands.
While this Antarctic
current is cold it also results in the air above
to contain a low relative humidity, which
translates in low annual rainfall. The
climate of
the Galapagos Islands is arid to semi arid, but
it varies with the elevations. As winds are forced
up against the slopes of the higher mountains, the
air cools off, forcing fog around the mountain
tops, which still keeps the forests relatively
moist during the dry season.
A third current
influences the ocean waters, the
Cromwell Current,
which wells up form deeper oceanic strata
bringing nutrients to the surface. This causes
plankton to florish, thus feeding the fish,
which in turn attract oceanic birds, Blue and
Pilot Whales, etc. to the islands. This is the
best season to see Penguins and Albatrosses that
are attracted to the schools of fish.
Blue-footed boobies and other
marine birds have
their breeding season, as do the Genovesa owls.
From June to
November, the dry season is characterized by
permanently overcast skies without rain
(similar to the "Garua" climate in Lima). The
winds increase and make the seas get choppy,
causing many visitors get seasick.
An interesting effect is the so-called
"telescope effect". In the mountains, the air
temperature drops as an average 6 degrees C per
1000 m. But on isolated mountains like the
volcanoes on the Galapagos Islands, the decrease
is more and therefore the cooling is faster at
Galapagos than on the mainland. Moreover, dry
air cools off quicker than humid air, thus
further strengthening the cooling effect. As a
result, the high mountain tops of Galapagos are
forested and often are cloud covered, while the
sun shines in lowlands.
Scuba
diving with Galapagos Marine Iguanas and other animals
While the majority of visitors to the
Galapagos
Islands
are attracted to the life above the water, increasingly
people are becoming interested in the underwater world of
the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which in fact, is as
interesting both in landscapes and in the creatures
above the waterline. Just imagine yourself, no only
frolicking with the ever playful Sea Lions, but also
encountering a penguin or a Marine Turtle underwater. Have
you ever met a peaceful plankton eating
Whale Shark or one
of the other unusually shaped sharks like a Hammerhead or a
delta plane shaped Manta Ray? Have you ever gazed in awe at a
real whale? In Galapagos, such encounters are actually
possible. If you have a
Pady scuba diving
license, you can participate in scuba diving programs on
your yacht or out of one of the main islands. If you are
fit, it would be highly recommendable to take y scuba diving
course before you head off to Galapagos!
Snorkling with fishes and Sea
Lions.
Even if you did not bring a mask, it still is fun to
submerge a little and enjoy the colorful tropical fishes.
The best of course if you are a scuba
diver. Gear is available for rent, so you don't have to
bring your own.
Getting to know the under-water world around the Galapagos
Islands is a must
if you are physically up to it.
While
the vast majority of the
Galápagos Islands Marine
Reserve consists
of ocean, some coastal waters include mangroves, beaches and
swamps. While reef corals are rare along the tropical coast
of the Eastern Pacific Ocean (hence the Latin American
Pacific coast) anywhere,
the
waters of the Pacific have far more interesting palegic
(oceanic) life than the Caribbean waters. Nowhere along the
Eastern Pacific coast are there such dramatic submerged sea-scapes
with vertical rocks (called "walls" in scuba diving lingo
) lava
formations, mangroves, etc.
The
Galápagos Islands Marine
Ecosystem is influenced by three ocean
currents. The cold South Equatorial Current flows westward
into Galapagos waters, which comes from the Peruvian Current
(the Humboldt Current) that runs north along the continent
of South America and turns west near the equator. The warm
Panama Current runs in from north. In addition, the deep sea
Cromwell Current runs from the west and is a source of
upwelling when it hits the islands to bring nutrients from
the bottom up to the surface layer.
Cold, hot and warm marine currents come together here,
generating a wide diversity of animal life: from small
colored fish to endemic birds and reptiles and large marine mammals: marine iguanas,
Galapagos Land Iguana, Galapagos Penguin, Galapagos crabs,
Galapagos sea lion,
Sharks, Blue-footed booby, swallow-tailed gulls, ducks,
frigate birds and the Galapagos tortoise.
Other Galapagos Marine Animals
The only tropical penguin in the world is the Galapagos
Penguin.
While hard coral reefs are absent, the Galapagos Islands Marine
Ecosystem has
fabulous pelagic (open ocean) marine animals, like Blue and
Pilot Whales, enormous delta-winged Manta Rays, Orcas,
Dolphins etc. Different
species of dolphins can follow your boat for hours, green turtles,
hammer and other sharks, while countless exotic fish species
in different
shapes and colors make it a scuba-divers paradise.