What a spectacular day we had today! Fernandina and Isabela offer us one of the most fascinating volcanic settings for the exquisite flora and fauna in the archipelago. These islands always give us extraordinary surprises. Something remarkable happened today during lunchtime, when a big group (more than 200!) of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) was traveling along with us. We saw these creatures jumping cheerfully from the dining room!

In the afternoon an astonishing clear blue sky just anticipated a wonderful visit to Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island. Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, pacific green turtles, sea lions and hundreds of marine iguanas among other living things made our visit special. Breathtaking young black lava flows were the perfect background for all of them. In the picture of today we can see in detail one the smallest creatures found in the trail. A beautiful female lava lizard (Microlophus albermalensis) showing off his colorful throat. Seven species of these lizards are found in the archipelago. Their distribution and variation in shape, color and behavior show clearly the interesting phenomenon known as adaptive radiation in Galapagos. The best known example of this phenomenon is the variation in sizes and shapes in the Darwin finches' beaks. Therefore we can say that lava lizards are for the herpetologists what finches are for the ornithologists. Like many lizards, lava lizards show dramatic changes of color with mood and temperature. In addition members of the same species living in different habitats also show color differences. Consequently lizards living mainly on dark lava are darker than ones living on lighter sandy areas. Sometimes the beauty of the lava lizards, due to their small size, can not be fully appreciated. Today with this close-up of the lava lizard I just want to emphasize on the gracefulness, beauty and simplicity of small things in the archipelago!