The fact that Darwin never mentioned seeing a penguin during his short passage through the islands must only mean he never had the luck to encounter these charming little birds, for what could be more noteworthy than a penguin on the equator?! I am glad to say that our guests had quite the opposite luck, as the Galapagos penguin was seen on two occasions during our trip. The first time was round the westernmost islands of Isabela and Fernandina, where the largest colonies are found due to the cool upwellings of the Cromwell Current. These create a habitat that is bearable to these cold-water creatures, of which we have a total population of approximately 1300 in the archipelago.

There is however also a moderate-sized colony on the small island of Bartolome, also known as our "textbook of geology". This islet is made up by a couple of parasitic cones, and the fascinating volcanic features here are particularly well showed up by the very arid conditions. The islet is completely in the rain shadow of the two large islands of Santiago and Santa Cruz, and is, as a result, very bare despite the age. Few plant and animal species occur here, but the penguins have apparently found a small niche that suits them well. They are particularly unafraid of humans here, and as a result can often be seen dotting the shorelines and even while snorkeling. The trio that were at first spotted on a rock soon joined us in the water, in eager pursuit of a rapid, polarized school of salemas. Though they often hunt on their own, they are also capable of great team work, when a group will round up a school of fish in a fashion reminiscent of sheepdogs at work. Once the fish have been driven into a tight ball, the penguins will plunge in and eat their fill, and this successful method explains the round profiles shown on the rock!

One thing is for sure; this is definitely one of the very few places in the world one would even remotely consider jumping into the water with penguins, and without a wetsuit to boot!