Floreana Island

Floreana Island

Floreana Island is one of the southern islands of the Galápagos Archipelago of Ecuador. The island is the result of a volcanic eruption and covers an area of 173 km2. The highest point is the 640-meter-high Cerro Pajas, which, like most of the smaller islands in the Galápagos, is the volcano's highest point. BirdLife International has declared the island an Important Bird Area. It is home to one of the most important colonies of the critically endangered Galápagos Petrels, with about 350 nests scattered among the rocks, under a dense vegetation. Medium Tree Finches are the island's endemic species, and other important species include Lava Gulls and Galápagos Penguins. In 1835, when Charles Darwin visited the island, he did not find any sign of the native tortoises and suggested that they had been wiped out by whalers, pirates and human settlers. No tortoises have been found on the island since approximately 1850, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has declared the Floreana Tortoise extinct. Although it is possible that true Florean Tortoises still exist on other islands in the archipelago. One of the most popular spots in the archipelago is at the northeastern point of the island, called Devil's Crown, an underwater volcanic cone that is a popular diving and snorkeling spot where you can snorkel with schools of fish, sea turtles, sharks and sea lions that are plentiful between the coral formations found here. Sea lions can also be seen at Punta Cormorant, and a short walk along a lagoon you can see flamingos, stingrays, sea turtles and Sally Lightfoot Crabs.