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 Located
on the west side of Isabela. The third largest, the youngest
and westermost island in Galapagos andf the largest still-pristine
islands in the world with no introduced species up to date.
Its volcano is still very active,
many eruptions have been recorded since 1813, making this island
most likely to have volcanic eruption and witnessing them, evident
in its lack of signs of erosion and bareness of vegetation.
From the sea it looms like a large, rounded shadow.
The
immense shield of Volcano Fernandina provides an impressive
backdrop for Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of sand and
lava rock extending from the base of the volcano into the sea.
Flightless cormorants build their nests on the point and Galapagos
hawks fly overhead.
Punta
Espinosa is also visited to see the black lava rock, mangroves,
a variety of herons, yellow warblers, pelicans, frigates, the
mangrove finch, petrels, shearwaters and the large population
of marine iguanas. Marine
iguanas are the only known lizards to have adapted themselves
to a life dependent on the sea, feeding on the green algae and
seaweed several feet below the water's surface. You find
them only in the Galapagos and Fernandina holds the largest
colony.
With
its dark and rocky shores, black sand beaches, and frequent
volcanic eruptions Fernandina seems in many ways the most forbidding
and yet the most fascinating of the Galapagos islands. |
