NORTH SEYMOUR

North of Baltra (South Seymour) is the small islet of North Seymour. The two islands are very similar in appearance both created from geological uplift and having typical arid vegetation including prickly pear cactus, palo santos trees and salt bushes.

The visitor trail on North Seymour is approximately (2 km) in length crossing the inland of the island and exploring the rocky coast. Along the way the trail passes colonies of blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds.

The magnificent frigatebird, a large black bird with a long wingspan, and a hooked beak, is extremely fast and has excellent vision. Frigatebirds are known for the large red pouch on their necks. During mating season the males thrown back their heads, inflate the pouch (sometimes to the size of a soccer ball), and shake trying to capture the attention of female frigates.

Boobies and frigates share an interesting relationship. Sharing the same nesting area on North Seymour blue-footed boobies nest on the ground making their nests from the twigs of the palo santos trees, while the magnificent frigate bird nests just above them in the saltbushes.

Blue-footed boobies are great at fishing. Hunting off-shore, the boobies dive from mid air into the sea in order to catch fish. Successful, they return to the island with their prize to feed their young. Frigatebirds named for the warships once used by pirates are the pirates of Galapagos birds. In contrast to the booby, frigates are poor fishers. Their bodies produce very little oil for their wings and they are not waterproof. Unable to spend time in the water fishing they must rely on food stolen from other birds to feed themselves and their young.

Unable to spend time in the water fishing they must rely on food stolen from other birds to feed themselves and their young. When a booby or red-billed tropicbird returns from a successful fishing trip the frigatebird will swoop down and molest the bird until it drops its catch. The frigate then plucks the food from the air, feeding itself and its young from the stolen loot. Frigatebirds on North Seymour rely on the fishing success of the blue-footed booby for their survival.

Returning to the coast Daphne Major and Minor can be spotted off in the distance and body surfing sea lions play closer to shore. Along the shoreline marine iguanas, white coral and black lava rocks complete the visit to North Seymour.

Visit Information

Landing: dry landing
Highlights: nesting frigatebirds, swallowtail gulls and blue-footed boobies, land iguanas.
Conditions: flat easy trail
Notes: it is usually possible to see fur seals on the rocks near the landing site