Lorraine Escher

Red, Blue, and Clawed: Animal Feet in the Galapagos

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 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.

Red-footed Booby Birds and their feet

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

Blue-Footed Booby Birds and their feet

Elaborate mating ritual of the Galapagos Blue-Footed Booby Bird
Two males compete for the attention of a female Blue-Footed Booby Bird.
Close-up of Blue-Booby Bird feet.
Their feet are so blue they glow on the white underbelly.

Other animal feet we saw in the Galapagos

Close up of the feet of a Galapagos Sea Lion.
Close up of the feet of a Galapagos Sea Lion.
Feet of a Galapagos Giant Tortoise.
Feet of a Galapagos Giant Tortoise.

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.

Next post in the Galapagos series: Sierra Negra: Hiking in Darwin’s Footsteps on a Galapagos Volcano

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