The first morning @ the hotel, I got up at 6AM & went down to the beach. A sea lion was just coming out of the bay. It walked up to me & looked me over & then barked at me to move & then went to a palm tree on the beach, lay down & went to sleep.

 

Sea lions are characterized by external ear flaps & long front flippers. Sea lions are found all over the islands, sleeping on the beach or swimming. I went snorkeling each day from the hotel yacht & sometimes when a sea lion saw me, he would swim out & swim with me. Also saw manta rays, sting rays, plenty of tropical fish & plenty of white tipped reef sharks.

 

Galapagos Tortoise is the largest living tortoise. Adults can weigh 660 lbs. & measure 4 feet long. The average life expectancy is 200 years. Tortoises eat grass & the poison apple, which is poisonous to humans. Being cold blooded, they frolic in mud ( preserves heat ).

 

Lonesome George is found @ the Charles Darwin Research Centre & is known to be the only living species of Pinta tortoise in the world. George is 75 years old & when he dies his species becomes extinct.

 

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