Diving in the Galapagos Islands
Fernando Ros - Adventurer

The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, about 1000 kilometers away from Ecuador. Two currents flow in their direction: a warm current from Panama and a cold one from Peru. When they come together, they deviate into the ocean, a strong force that heads away from the continent. This is why the islands were not visited too frequently during the sailboat era. Only pirates would stop there, to hunt and feed on the giant turtles, already extinct in some of the islands.

Because of these currents, the trip from the continent to the island lasted five days, but the way back could not be done in less than 25 days, and that was only when they were lucky and the wind was strong. Adding to this was the fact that very few of the islands had drinking water, and while some of the islands had dense, difficult vegetation, others were completely desert. All these factors made Galapagos inhospitable.

At the beginning of this century, they were used as a jail, it was not until the end of the second world war that they were colonized for tourist purposes. Being far and inaccessible had allowed the development of many endemic species, and therefore the islands were of tourist interest.

Today, the animals´natural habitats are being threatened because of the strong demographic growth in the past few years, specially because of the domestic animals that have been brought to the island for the colonies. For example, the goats are eating the food of the turtles, and these are slowly disappearing. The Charles Darwin Station is located in the island of Santa Cruz, and directs its efforts towards preserving the fauna and maintaining the island's uniqueness.

The beginning of the adventure

The Northern waters are approximately 5°C warmer than the waters on the south side of the islands. This is why more life develops there, specially around Darwin island, where it is common to see whale sharks(harmless to man, they feed on small fish). Every diver dreams of swimming with these creatures, and that was the purpose of our trip. But, although we went in the best season for whale watching, the El Niño current raised the temperature of the waters and affected both marine and land life.

At any point, we saw many things that made the trip unforgettable. When we got to San Cristóbal, the heat was sticky, bothersome, suffocating. We didn't care because our adventure was about to begin. Guides were expecting us. They took us in an auto car to the docks where our boat awaited. Our luggage arrived later on, and was brought on board by the boat's crew.

Once we were on board, a waiter served us cocktails while we waited for our luggage. This was a small detail of what the cruise would be like. Traveling in an Aggressor is like staying at a five star hotel. Every day, we would wake up at 7:00am, breakfast was served at 7:30a. After every dive, the waiter would com by with his uniform and platters of sweets or sandwiches. Lunch was at 1:00pm and dinner was at 8:00. At 10:00pm, we were already sleeping.

To gain confidence

The first day, during the afternoon, we made a test dive in San Cristobal Island, to test the equipment and our weights.. Visibility was about 2 meters, and there wasn't too much life, but seals passed by like rockets. The first one I saw scared me, but after a while I got used to them and began to enjoy the dive.

The sea urchins called m y attention. Their spikes were so thick it was impossible to get hurt, although there were also some of the regular urchins with thin spikes. That day, our permanent companion, the current, made her presentation. The first day, it wasn't as strong as it would be later on, but it was noticeable.

Sharks in sight

On the second day, we went to Seymour Islan(Santa Cruz), where we made contact with sharks. Water was clear(visibility about 30 meters), and a couple of reef sharks swam with us, unafraid. A rubber boat would drop us in the water and pick us up a few hundred meters in whichever direction the current took us.

As soon as we submerged, the current pulled the goggles off Alicia's face. She got quite a fright! Luckily, Felipe Barrio, from Window Buceo, was able to control the situation. It was a small warning for us no to relax too much. For this kind of immersion , experienced divers are recommended.

In the afternoon, we headed off towards Wolf, 16 navigation hours away. Dolphins leaped and played around us for hours at a time.

In the morning of our third day, we dived in Wolf, a region inhabited by hammerhead sharks. There were hundreds of them. The problem was that, because of the warmth of the water, they swam at a depth of 40 meters, and only once in a while did one of them come up and visit us. We were diving on the South side, where the current was strongest. Even holding on to a rock was not enough to stay still for too long. The main problem was that some of these currents are vertical, surprising you at a depth of 15 meters and dragging you down another 20.

A professional photographer was carrying two cameras and didn't want anyone to be close to him. Suddenly, a vertical current scared him so badly that he dropped both his cameras and got out whichever way he could. The cameras sunk down to the bottom of the sea.

Unique species

Among the rocks, although there was very little coral, there were barracudas, surgeon fish, scorpion fish, parrot fish and morey eels. It was a pity that the hammerheads didn't allow themselves to be seen as much as we had hoped for.

Many of these species are similar to the ones we knew were accustomed to in Spain, although there are small differences depending on the region. There are others, like the barracuda or the trumpet fish, that don't change at all, in spite of the distance. They have the same shape, color and traits as those in the Canary Islands. I suppose there is some scientific explanation, but it is still curious.

We dived four times in Wolf, and on the fourth day we headed towards Darwin, in search of the whale sharks. During the year before, 21 specimens had been spotted. We didn't even see a little one. The sea was in a bad mood and the current made the one in Wolf seem insignificant.

When we got back to the boat, we made a unanimous decision: we headed back to Wolf, to see if we could spot more hammerheads. We descended to a depth of 45 meters and were able to watch them closely. But we couldn't stay too long, because our 12 liter tanks ran out quickly. We spent the fifth day combining land and sea. We visited the Plaza Island, where iguanas lay about, indifferent to our presence. It was hot, and they were sunbathing.

The cacti looked like pine trees. Just the thought of all these unique species made us feel we were traveling through the past. These are the moments when one realizes that this natural beauty is very fragile and must be taken care of. Its true that there is not much we can do from our position, but at least we can preserve what surrounds us.

An unforgettable experience

When we got back to the boat, we met an unexpected visitor. A sea lion had taken advantage of our absence to lie on the deck and enjoy the sun and take a nap. He let us come close and didn't even move, sure as he was that we would not harm him. Seeing that there were many more surrounding the boat, we took a dip and played with them in the water. We couldn't touch them, but they could touch us, and they enjoyed biting our fins.

Jaime, one of the guides, told us he didn't carry a snorkel anymore, since he had already lost three pairs of goggles because of sea lions biting and pulling from his snorkel. They usually don't harm divers, because most of them are infants and only want to play. They are only dangerous in mating season, when a male might confuse a diver with an opposing male, and attack. When a male sea lion gets angry, he makes noise like the barking of a dog, and you must let your head hang low, as if you had done something bad and was being punished, avoid eye contact, turn around and slowly go away. Luckily, I didn't have to test the method, it wasn't mating season.

We dived in Cousins Rock, Southeast of Santiago Island. It was an unforgettable experience. The North side had a wall covered in black coral. There was an immense school of small fish, through which nothing could be seen. If you swam through the cloud of fish, it would open up and close right behind you. They only swam away when sea lions got into the water and swam among them. It was a spectacle. The place was also frequented by eagle rays, and although we were able to see several, I could only take a picture of one.

Among the reef were many seahorses. They had to stand a photography session worthy of a top-model. The South side was smoother, and the wildlife was mostly composed by animals on their way to somewhere else.: sharks, turtles and a couple of other big fish. The water was not as clear, and was slightly colder.

The last dive

On the sixth day, we went to Gordon Rocks, East of the Santa Cruz island. The water was not very clear, with a visibility of 15 meters. There were many large animals. A school of huge fish swam around us for a while and then disappeared as fast as they had arrived. Several hammerheads circulated the area. There were also a couple of large turtles.

This was the last of 19 dives. Although the weather was not on our side, our guides and crew treated us with kindness, contributing to an unforgettable trip. That same day, during the afternoon, we went to Port Ayora, in the Santa Cruz island, and we felt as if we had been taken back to the pirate days. Without a defined dock area, the ships anchored in the bay, and we approached the island on a dingy. We then visited the Charles Darwin Station. We were able to see the famous giant turtles, the largest of which weighed 500 kilograms. In the station, people worked to avoid the animals´extinction. Most of the Galapagos turtles are born in the station. When they are three years old, they are taken to the island of their parents. They do this to avoid the dangers of predatory rats.

Very little of the trip was left. We crowned our experience with dinner at the city's famous restaurant. It wasn't out of this world, but we spent a pleasant evening off the boat. Well, this is all. I hope my memories last until the next trip. My intentions were to share part of this adventure, and as long as I kept you from boredom and made you like this wonderful sport a bit more, I am satisfied. Salutes from the Canary Islands.

Fernando