Fernandina Island (Narborough):
Located on the west side of Isabela Island, it is the western most island in the Galapagos and is one of the most volcanically active. It is visited to see the black lava rock, mangrove forests, a variety of herons, Yellow Warblers, Pelicans, Frigates, the Mangrove Finch, petrels, shearwaters and Marine Iguanas. With its dark, rocky shores, black sand beaches, and frequent volcanic upheavals, Fernandina, seems the most forbidding and yet the most fascinating of the Galapagos islands.
Like hundreds of small dragons, enormous armies of marine iguanas guard the coastlines, in particular at Punta Espinosa, at the northeastern edge of the island. These creatures are the only known lizards to have adapted themselves to a life dependent on the sea, feeding on the green algae that blooms in the inter-tidal areas and on the lush carpet of seaweed several feet below the water’s surface. The endemic flightless cormorant, Galapagos penguins, and sea lions can be distinguished among the rocks.
