GALAPAGOS FUR SEAL WITH PUP - EQUADOR - GALAPAGOS ISLANDS - ISLAS ISABELLA-------------------GALAPAGOS - THE ISLANDS IN TIME PAPARAZZI Mom the Paparazzi are here. Mother and juvenile fur seals. On this morning I was walking along the beach on the island of Isabella to shoot images of the seals and the marine iguanas. There were hundreds of fur seals hauled out lying about on the beaches and volcanic tide pools. Some areas had all baby seals playing together like nursery school while the mothers were out at sea fishing. You would occasionally see passing you on the beach five or six baby seals humping down the beach on some mission together. I passed this pair and the baby seal looked up at me as if to say arent we just handsome, well take our picture you dope, so I obliged them. Mailed them some wallet size copies when I got home. Isabella his a volcanic island and has a large volcano at its peak. It is quite mountainous and heavily forested. You can also see the giant Galapagos Tortoise in the wild here. The forest also harbors many types prey birds such as eagles, hawks and owls. We did make a days forage up to the top of Isabella to view the volcano and the Tortoises. There is some farming and ranching on this island so you will encounter cattle and horses as well near some of the local farms. Most of the other Islands in Galapagos with the exception of Darwin are not inhabited by people and are game reserves for the wildlife. All travelers to Galapagos may only go there by government permit and must be accompanied by a government game warden. Landing on some Islands is forbidden and some only by permit with a ranger. The rangers are very well informed about the wildlife and are an invaluable source of information about all the wildlife to be found on the islands. You are not allowed to touch any of the wildlife or disturb it in anyway. Many of the birds and animals are use to this protection and will allow you to approach quite closely. It is a wildlife photographers paradise. You are able to get close to things that would normally never let you get that close. The variety of bird life will boggle your mind. Many types of sea birds that only come to land for mating and nesting, such as the giant Albatross, jet black Frigates with huge red pouches, Blue Footed Boobies or the dainty Tropic bird. I highly recommend a trip to these islands; it is the journey of a lifetime to be so close the all these strange creatures. Do to the isolation of these islands many species are found nowhere else in the world.