Penguins of Galapagos islands
Above one of the many penguins of Galapagos islands we saw on our Galapagos cruise. This particular penguin was standing tall at Elizabeth Bay and can be enjoyed without having to embark on a cold Antarctica Cruise.
It’s estimated that there are about 4000 penguins on the islands of Fernandina and Isabela Islands and these Galapagos Penguins are the only penguins that can be found above the Equator.
But the Galapagos Penguin is not the only penguin that lives far away from the south pole ice: I saw blue-eyed and yellow-eyed penguins on my journey to the South Island of New Zealand (in the little town of Oamaru to be exact).
History of the penguins of the Galapagos islands
Galapagos Penguin most likely are descendants of the Humboldt Penguins.
Humboldt Penguins live in colonies along the western coast of South America, and most likely some of these penguins followed the cold waters of the Humboldt Current and reached the Galapagos Islands.
The Galapagos Penguins look quite similar to the Humboldt Penguins, just that they have fewer white feathers and are generally smaller.
Most likely they evolved smaller due to a limited food (fish) supply in the Cromwell current surrounding the Galapagos Islands.
And because it’s warmer on Galapagos than on Antarctica, less feathers are needed to insulated their bodies against freezing weather conditions. On the other hand, Galapagos Penguins don’t molt once but twice, most likely to replace their features damaged by the hot sun.
Again due to the limited food supply on Galapagos, these penguins hatch their two eggs between 2 to 4 days apart by laying and incubating their eggs at different times.
Due to the tropical heat, Galapagos penguins hunt during the day to keep cool in the water. They are also the only penguins that pant.
Although they haven’t much natural predators, due to the limited and unpredictable food supply the penguins of Galapagos islands are on the list of endangered species.
