Little Monsters - Diving with Marine Iguanas

Today’s the day we come face to face with little monsters - the marine iguanas of Fernandina Island. It was a long, bumpy overnight boat journey in what I’d guess were about 12 foot swells, judging from how the boat would take air and then glide down and the furniture in my room was sliding around. But our captain got us from Wolf to Fernandina safe and sound, and only mildly queasy with the night of gut churning. 

We pulled off the shore of Fernandina in the late morning and waited. Waited for the skies to clear, the sun to come out and the ectotherms to absorb enough heat to stimulate their metabolism. That’s right. The iguanas need to bask in the sun to get warm enough to have enough energy and appetite to jump into the cold waters and swim down to munch on green or red algae. 

Once again, bring a huge dork has paid off. My dad and I packed our mini binoculars, so we could creep on the iguanas littering the warm rocks and sand. At the first signs of movement into the water, we began to gear up!

This is the dive for which I was most excited. Who doesn’t want to be underwater with mini Godzilla??? The marine iguanas did not disappoint. As soon as we rolled in, there they were by the dozen - swimming down with their flat, broad tails, gripping the rocks with their claws, and munching with their rolled lips and tiny teeth. Amazing!!!

Galapagos is the only place in the world with marine iguanas. Like Darwin’s famed finches, they adapted to the harsh environment, evolving over millions of years. There are subspecies on the various islands (these are Fernandina marine iguanas), but the Galapagos marine iguanas are the only lizards to spend time in the ocean. 

The large males can dive up to 30 metres and spend up to an hour underwater! Smaller males and females stick closer to shore or eat from tidal pools. 

You may observe the white mantle or crust on their heads. It’s a super cool adaptation! Because they take in so much salt in their diet, their blood actually filters it out and then they shoot it out of special exocrine glands at their nostrils. Essentially, the launch snot rockets of salt out and it gets stuck and crusted into their heads. Neat! And sort of gross!

Like all the creatures we have encountered here, the marine iguanas did not seem affected by us at all. They just went about their business of eating breakfast. 

What an incredible experience. One I’ll never forget!