In the absence of anything super exciting to report, I figured I’d throw out a few more fun facts:
• It takes approximately 30 minutes for a frigatebird to inflate his pouch and 45 for deflation. I think. He will site in the same place for up to three weeks, without eating, to wait for a mate.
• Hammerheads are one of three species known to tan in response to sun exposure, the others being humans and pigs.
• Our resident scalloped hammerheads are among those known to attack humans.
• On a similar note, Galápagos sharks happen to be closely related to great whites, hence the previously noted stalking of groups of snorkelers including yours truly at right around dinnertime.
• Don’t ask about black-tips; I don’t know the answer.
• Blue-footed boobies’ feet are like flamingos’ feathers: they change color in response to their diet. Blue is “unhealthy;” turquoise is fantastic.
• The vampire finch, a subspecies of the sharp-beaked ground finch found only on Darwin and Wolf Islands, supplements its diet by drinking the blood of nazca and blue-footed boobies.
• A giant tortoise will outlive yourself, your children, and quite possibly your grandchildren.
• The temperature inside the nest determines the sex of turtle and tortoise hatchlings. So, if climate change keeps up, we’re gonna have rather a lot of females on our hands.
• Multiple species of Scalesia are members of the daisy family that have morphed into giant trees.
• Galápagos hawks are polyandrous.
I hear it's getting warmer in the states– hope everyone's enjoying the sun.
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