Featured Image Credit: Octavio Aburto/ CDF/ Caters News
By: Alice Morris
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but these gorgeous photos of Galápagos marine animals leave us speechless.
On a recent educational trip with the Charles Darwin Foundation, photographer Octavio Aburto travelled to a remote mangrove forest to capture the unique wildlife of the Galápagos Islands.
Mangrove forests provide critical habitat for many marine species in the Galápagos. The submerged roots of the mangroves create a sheltered nursery for young fish and a feeding ground for many other animals.
Image Credit: Octavio Aburto/ CDF/ Caters News
It is no wonder then that Aburto encountered so many species on his snorkel:
“Every time I turned around, more animals seemed to appear,” he said of the incredible experience, adding “Being inside the secret, hidden lagoons was like being in another world – calm, historic and very natural.”
His images depict curious sea lions darting around mangrove roots, a sea turtle swimming gracefully through crystal clear water, a group of stingrays drifting along the seafloor, and a shy reef shark eyeing the camera from a distance.
Image Credit: Octavio Aburto/ CDF/ Caters News
Image Credit: Octavio Aburto/ CDF/ Caters News
Though the animals that Aburto photographed appeared curious and relatively unafraid, it is likely that they had never seen a human being before.
“We are alien in their environment,” said Aburto, “and every passing animal looked at us curiously, intrigued by our long fins, mask and snorkel.”
Image Credit: Octavio Aburto/ Carters News Agency
This so-called “ecological naivety” or “island tameness” is part of what makes the Galápagos islands such a popular tourist destination. Because many of the species living on the islands and in the surrounding waters evolved without any particular predators or threats, they tend to be remarkably tame around humans and other large animals.
This trait allows the over 200,000 annual visitors to the islands to see its unique wildlife up close in their natural environment and it certainly made an impression on Aburto during his time underwater:
Read more about Octavio Aburto’s photos, here. Read more about the Galápagos islands, here.