Galapagos Animals Up Close: Boobies, Sea Lions, Tortoises

In short

This is a short photo essay of Galapagos animals, told through their feet. I didn't set out to take pictures of feet; only later, looking through my photos, did I notice the theme. You'll see red-footed boobies, blue-footed boobies, sea lions and giant Galapagos tortoises. For the full story of the islands' wildlife, David Attenborough's three-episode Galapagos series makes a good companion.

This bit of content is a bit niche. You can watch David Attenborough’s 3-episode series about the Galapagos for informative commentary and gorgeous nature shots of Galapagos animals like giant tortoises, Galapagos Marine Iguanas, penguins, sea lions and finches.

But here is a short photographic essay of animal feet we saw in the Galapagos.

Galapagos Animals Have Remarkable Feet

I didn’t set out to take pictures of Galapagos animal feet. It was only later as I looked at my photos that I noticed a theme. I seemed to have enjoyed their feet.

Red-Footed Boobies

Red-footed Booby Birds sitting on the rails of SV Aphrodite during the Pacific Crossing to the Galapagos. — Adult red-footed booby birds.

Close up of the feet of a juvenile red-footed booby bird. It's feet are lighter in color. They are pink. — A comparison: on the left, the adult’s feet on the right are clearly red. On the left, a juvenile Red-Footed Booby Bird has a pink tinge.

Close up of adult Red-Footed-Booby Bird feet. Photo taken during Pacific crossing from Panama to the Galapagos. — A comparison: on the left, the adult’s feet on the right are clearly red. On the left, a juvenile Red-Footed Booby Bird has a pink tinge.

Blue-Footed Boobies

Elaborate mating ritual of the Galapagos Blue-Footed Booby Bird — Two males compete for the attention of a female Blue-Footed Booby Bird.

Galapagos animals: Close-up of Blue-Booby Bird feet. — Their feet are so blue they glow on the white underbelly.

Sea Lions and Giant Galapagos Tortoises

Galapagos Animals: Close-up of the feet of a Galapagos Sea Lion. — Close-up of the feet of a Galapagos Sea Lion.

That’s it for Galapagos animals. Tomorrow, I’ll be putting up a blog post with a more serious slant that describes the extremes of luxury and exploitation we witnessed shortly after leaving the Galapagos.