Top 5 marine life rankings
Galapagos Islands

 

Galapagos
marine life rankings

Note: See "About my marine life list" section below for criteria.

Dolphins

Unlike whales, dolphins come close to ships to put on entertaining performances. They  acrobatically leap out of the water (see photo) along the side of your ship in perfect sync with other dolphins. Or, they ride your ship's bow waves. The two most-seen species in the Galapagos are the bottlenose and common dolphins. The best view area is the channel between Fernandina and Isabela Islands.

Whales

Although these large aquatic mammals are seldom seen up close on a Galapagos cruise, distance doesn't matter as much when whales propel themselves out of the water (called breaching). See photo. Whales were prolific in the Galapagos before 19th century whalers nearly hunted them to extinction. Today, recovery is still in progress. Best islands for viewing: Fernandina and Isabela.

Green Sea Turtle

You can view these ocean-going reptiles from your ship with their heads poking out of the water for air - or you see their entire bodies in shallow bays. Their shell measures up to a meter (3 feet) in length.  A female green sea turtle crawls ashore at night to dig a pit on a sandy beach to lay an average of 100 eggs. She then covers the eggs with sand and drags herself back into the sea, letting her offspring fend for themselves. When the eggs hatch, the baby turtles make a mad dash to the water to avoid being snatched and eaten by preying birds. Some make it, some don't. Best islands for viewing the beaches and turtle tracks are Bartolome, Fernandina, Floreana, and Santa Fe.

Sharks

Although snorkelers and divers readily see these formidable looking fishes, other visitors can view them, too. On some boats the ship's crew points a spotlight into the water. This attracts sharks, which can readily be seen. You will likely see silvertip reef, Galapagos, and hammerhead sharks. The last sometimes swims in large groups.

Orcas

They also go by the name "killer whales", which is a misnomer because they are more closely related to dolphins than whales. They are fearsome predators and often hunt in large pods. Favorite foods include squid, octopus, and sea lion. I rank them at the bottom of my top 5 marine life list because you are far less likely to see them than the other four sea creatures described above. If you do, consider yourself lucky.

More marine life

The above list doesn't embrace all the sea life you will see during your Galapagos visit. For example, you can sometimes see from your Zodiac a manta ray or sting ray leaping up out of the water. You might also see the latter partially buried in sand in shallow waters.

Tropical fish

In addition to viewing some of the marine life listed above, snorkelers and divers have the advantage of exploring an underwater world containing hundreds of colorful tropical fish species, too many to list here.

About my
marine life  list

Ranking criterion: Objective consensus of numerous sophisticated travelers.

Category criterion: This top marine life ranking list covers sea creatures that spend all or virtually all of their lives in the water. See my land-and-shore page for creatures like marine iguanas and my bird page for those like penguins.

Top 5 land & shore rankings
Top 5 bird rankings

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