Darwin Bay :: Genovesa Island

Tower Island has a shield volcano; the crater is about 600 meters wide at the edges and a depth of 60 meters. The total route of the trail is approximately 1,500 meters. The trail is part coral sand and the other part is slabs of lava.

Initial highlights are the nesting colonies of the common frigate, the Nazca booby and the swallow-tailed gulls. We also find here nests of red-footed booby, which is the largest nesting colony of Galapagos for pelagic bird.

Swallow-tailed gulls feed at night on squid and fish. They usually nests in cliffs and rocks, but at this place they do so on sand to camouflage their black spotted eggs. When they nest on black substrate, they add pieces of black coral and on white substrate they add small lava rocks to their nests. 

The Great Frigatebird is abundant here and is one of the main attractions of the island. Genovesa has no reptiles, possibly due to lack of proper conditions for the nesting of these vertebrates.

The Galápagos Mockingbird (Nesomimus parvulus) and the Large Cactus Finch (Geospiza conirostris) are tagged because Dr. Peter Grant has made long-term studies of behavior and evolution of terrestrial birds. The Genovese mockingbirds have been studied for their cooperative behavior. As for the Large Cactus Finch, on this island there are two sets of the same species that differ in their singing. Females are attracted to chanting similar to their ancestral males, behavior that demonstrates the evolutionary divergence within a species.

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Special Indications

• At this site during high tide, most of the trail is covered with water. Do not wet your shoes, in order to complete the journey without any discomfort and problems.

• Once one crosses the nesting area of the frigates, the trail continues on a platform of lava and climbs the cliff. Do not step on the vegetation, or get into the area of Salt Bush (Cryptocarpus pyriformis), the Swallow-Tailed Gulls (Creagrus furcatus) nest under these bushes and on the beach, where one is likely to step on the birds or their eggs.

• The birds on this site are usually very tame and it seems that the proximity of the visitors do not bothered them much. However, as a rule, do not approach them, keep within 2 feet away.

• Genovesa has remained unaltered by man due to its geographic isolation and lack of fresh water. Be sure not to carry organisms in your clothing or shoes when dry landing, nor any food, either here or in any other island.

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