Galápagos: North Seymour

North Seymour Island was the first island in the Galápagos Islands where we took our first land-based day-tour and it did not disappoint! We chose North Seymour for the chance to see a lot of the unique wildlife there – especially birds.

Typical landscape of North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

From where we were based in the town of Puerto Ayora in south Santa Cruz Island, a 45-minute bus to the north of the island took us to the Canal of Itacaba, where the boat to North Seymour departed. After 45-minutes on the boat, we spotted shore!

Arriving on the rocky and wavy shores of North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

While the island itself was very flat, its shores were very rocky and wavy as you would expect from the volcanic Galápagos Islands. It took the dinghy boat a few tries to fight the waves and allow us to disembark, but it was really exciting when we stepped foot onto the island to start exploring! Our naturalist guide took us around the paths along the island where we saw all the wildlife we had expected from North Seymour and more. Some highlights below, and we hope the pictures are worth a thousand words.

Yellow Land Iguanas

These are a specialty on North Seymour and we spotted one pretty soon after we landed. Most of the inner island is dry and arid, filled with cacti and dry bush, which is perfect iguana habitat. We saw a bunch of females first, mostly lounging in the shade.

A female land iguana framed by cacti, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

The male iguana of the group was on the move and prowling around his territory. Male land iguana are particularly colorful – in this case, bright yellow.

Male land iguana with the distinctive bright yellow coloring on the move on North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

A little down the path, we spotted another male iguana sitting so still as if it was being paid to pose for photographs. Naturally we all took a ton of pictures from every angle.

Male land iguana posing for photographs, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

It was incredible to be able to get that close to these iguanas (and all wildlife in the Galápagos!) and practically see every scale on its body in close detail. We were beyond thrilled.

Frigate Birds

Frigate birds are some of the strangest birds I’ve ever witnessed. The cool part about North Seymour is that we got to see frigate birds in several stages of growth and behaviour. First, a baby frigate that was super fuzzy and adorable:

The fuzzball that is a baby frigate bird, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Then a slightly older and bigger one, but still fuzzy and a chick:

No longer just a fuzzball, but still a fuzzy-headed chick frigate, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

In another part of the island, there were grown frigates. Males are known for their red gular pouch (throat skin), which they inflate during mating season to attract females.

Male frigate bird with its red gular pouch, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Considering it wasn’t mating season, we weren’t sure we’d see any inflated males, but we got lucky and spotted one!

Male frigate bird inflating its bright red throat skin to attract females, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Weird-looking, right? One of the main goals for us in the Galápagos was to see unique wildlife, and this certainly fit the bill.

Blue-Footed Boobies

Besides frigate birds, we were also counting on North Seymour to spot blue-footed boobies. As their name suggested, they have fabulously distinctive blue feet.

Distinctive bright blue feet of the blue-footed booby, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

What struck me as particularly entertaining was that these boobies were always standing on rocks, as if they knew they wanted a pedestal upon which to display their feet. The more blue a male’s feet are, the more attractive they are to females. Males will strut and lift their feet up and down to show them off during mating season.

Blue-footed booby showing off its feet standing atop a rock and calling out, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

There are also red-footed boobies in the Galápagos Island – we saw those on San Cristóbal Island.

Marine Iguanas

Besides the yellow land iguanas, there were also marine iguanas by the coast. We caught some good portraits with the ocean background like this one with our new telephoto lens:

Marine iguana black and white profile portrait, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Sometimes there was more than one:

Two marine iguana amongst the rocks on North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Marine iguanas are pretty common throughout all Galápagos Islands and we’ve lost count of how many we’ve seen of all shapes and sizes.

Sea Lions

And of course, there were sea lions on North Seymour, too (they’re everywhere!). Since North Seymour was our first island, we were super excited to get up close and personal with them.

Most of them were lounging around the rocks and sleeping.

Close up of a peacefully sleeping sea lion, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

There was an adorable pair of mom and nursing pup that was heartwarming:

Mom sea lion and her nursing pup, North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

At that time, we had no idea how many sea lions we would end up seeing total.

North Seymour was an amazing introduction to the Galápagos Islands. We were on such a high after the first day and checking off a bunch of the wildlife we wanted to see off the list. Next up: Bartolomé Island!