Too much of a good thing?
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Sat 21 Apr 2012 12:59
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The sealions of Galapagos really are a delight, and
one of the highlights of a visit. Numbers are down to about half of what they
were fifty years ago for reasons that are not entirely clear (and may be
completely natural) but there are still a lot of them. On one island, San
Cristobal, they use the town centre beach as a resting place. There was no town
to speak of fifty years ago so I guess the sealions were here first by many tens
of thousands of years. But they've stayed and adapted to the new
conditions:
 The seafront has been 'improved' for human visitors
and very nice it is too - a very high standard has been achieved. But
unfortunately as you can see the facilities have proved ideal for the town's
original inhabitants who just love to hang out on the benches, all day long.
Most of the benches (and there are lots) have been comandeered in this way, as
has the children's playground:
 and the car park:
 Beautiful to look at, but unfortunately the animals
are not house trained, and they stink of rotting fish. But being Galapagos they
rightly get priority and are allowed to do as they see fit, entirely
unmolested.
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