Amazing creatures in the Galapagos Islands

• Amazing creation of the Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Islands - an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, 972 kilometers west of Ecuador, which consists of 13 main volcanic islands.

The islands are best known for a large number of native species of fauna and here conducted by the Charles Darwin Research, which served for Darwinian first impetus to the creation of the evolutionary theory of the origin of species.

Sea lions swim near San Cristobal. This subfamily of eared seals. In nature, the voice of sea lions are a hoarse roar.

In 1978, UNESCO declared the island's World Heritage sites, and in 1985 Biosphere Reserve.

The tuna - kind of fish from the family Scombridae. tuna speed can reach 70 km / h (according to other sources 90) making it one of the fastest fish, along with such as the shark (60 km / h), fish-sailboat (109 km / h), black marlin (120 km / h), swordfish (130 km / h). In early January 2013 a record price per fish was installed in Japan. During the auction 222-pound Atlantic tuna was sold for 1, 8 million US dollars.

Turtle Giant Galapagos can weigh up to 250 kilograms and live more than 100 years.

The marine iguana - iguana that lives exclusively in the Galapagos Islands. It has a unique ability among modern lizards spend most of their time at sea.

hammerhead shark. Width "hammer" wings constitutes 23-27% of the body length. Due to the large size (average length of 3 to 5 m) and large teeth great hammerhead certainly capable of causing fatal injury to man. This species has a (possibly undeserved) reputation as aggressive and the most dangerous of the family of hammerhead sharks.

Marine iguanas.

There is evidence that in New Zealand shores was caught hammerhead 7 meters 89 centimeters and a weight of 363 kilograms.

The red crab is one of the most interesting animals of the Galapagos Islands, its image is often found in the series of photos of the archipelago.

Tourists.

Marine iguanas swim body the undulations in the horizontal plane. They prefer to dive at low tide, when the water is heated by the sun as much as possible. Underwater iguana able to hold their breath for 1 hr.

View from the top of Bartolome Island in the Galapagos Islands.

The marine iguana is found on all the islands of the archipelago, mainly on rocky shores, salty marshes and mangroves. Marine iguanas live only on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. skeleton iguanas

At present, the archipelago still inhabit many foreign animals such as goats, pigs, dogs, rats, mice, cats, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, poultry, ants, cockroaches and some parasites. Dogs and cats are attacking defenseless wild birds and destroying their nests, catch iguanas, land, and sea turtles. Pigs cause even greater harm, destroying the nests of turtles and iguanas, as well as destroying the natural vegetation in search of insects and roots. Maybe pigs have caused the disappearance of iguanas on the island of Santiago, though in Darwin's time they were there.

The archipelago has been known by many different names, including the "Enchanted Islands".

gannets - large birds, free-floating over the ocean and extract the fish and squid, diving into water from a height of 10-100 m to a depth of 25 m bird legs have bright blue swimming membranes -. A distinctive feature of this species. Blue legs of males during the mating play a significant role. Females prefer males with painted blue feet and neglected male, whose legs look blue-gray.

American brown pelican. The smallest of the pelican: its body length is not more than 137 cm, and the weight 4, 5 kg.

In 1986, the surrounding waters of the total area of ​​70 000 sq. km. It was declared "marine protected area", the second largest after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. In 1990, the archipelago has become a sanctuary for whales.

green iguana. The body length from the nose to tail in adults is typically less than 1, 5 m, although in some individuals known history length exceeding 2 meters and a weight of 8 kg.

Marine iguanas.

The whale shark. The largest of the currently existing species of sharks, as well as the largest of modern fish. Its size often exceeds 10 m, there is evidence of 18-meter and 20-meter even copies. The whale shark - a rare species, the number of which had never been great, but steadily declining in recent decades.

Galápagos tortoise. Endemic to the Galapagos islands, species, endangered. It is the largest of living currently ground turtles and 10th weight among all living reptiles, reaching a weight of 400 kg and a length of 1 to 8 meters.

Marine iguanas basking in the sun.