For fifty years Tui De Roy has been photographing the wildlife and landscapes of the Galapagos Islands with a local's eye and knowledge. This gallery features her images of the marine iguana, the only sea-going lizard in the world.
They need no plant cover, no shelter, no shade, and no fresh water to survive, but are quite at home on a barely cooled new lava flow. Peaceful and gregarious, the pattern of their activities is governed by the dual factors of daily temperature fluctuations coupled with the lunar rhythm of the tides. Thriving in densities surpassing 5,000 iguanas per mile of coastline, the key to their incredible success hinges upon the cool, nutrient rich currents that nurture lush algal growth on which they feed in the near-shore shallows.
Iguanas are dependent on the morning sun's warmth to dry away the salty dew on their backs and thaw them from the night's chill. For hours they remain motionless, eyes half closed, their bodies seemingly fused to the ground and to each other, soaking in the sun's rays. Only from time to time would one of them snort out a fine spray secreted from glands that can eliminate salt in concentrations almost twice as high as sea water, their only source of liquid.
