Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Dry landing on Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island. This island had irregular lava flow. It is a very arid island, a home to a vast number of marine iguanas. The theory is that the marine iguanas were originally land iguanas but needed to evolve to take advantage of alternate food sources.

Marine iguanas are cold blooded. The water temp at this time of year is about 68 degrees.The iguanas are cold blooded so they rely on the sun to keep their body temp up high enough for the iguanas to be helpful. The iguanas go in the water for about an hour at a time to feed on the plants. Then they need to come out and lay on the black lava to increase their body temps up in the sun. It is common for them to lie on top of each other to help with the warming.