Fernandina Island — The Most Pristine Place in the Galápagos

In a sense, every other major Galápagos island is an ecological management project. Santa Cruz’s highlands had long suffered decades of invasive plants. Isabela, particularly around Puerto Villamil, has dealt with cats, dogs, and rats brought by the early settlers. Even remote and pristine Genovesa has a history of introduced black rats. Decades of conservation efforts were dedicated to controlling these invasive species. The Galápagos National Park’s campaign called Project Isabela (1997-2006) removed more than 140,000 feral goats from Isabela and Santiago at a cost of over US$10.5 million

Fernandina is the exception. This island never had a permanent human settlement. Its active lava flows, inaccessible coastline, and carefully managed visitor access have kept away non-native species. Unlike the other islands, there haven’t been any goats that stripped its vegetation, rats that preyed on seabird nests, or cats that hunted marine iguana hatchlings. To this day, Fernandina remains one of the archipelago’s last untouched ecosystems.

This is important for the wildlife behavior in Fernandina. On other islands, species that have become more cautious still show an extraordinary lack of fear on Fernandina. Marine iguanas remain unfazed as visitors walk past, while flightless cormorants sitting on their nests barely acknowledge people on the trail. At Punta Espinoza, these interactions offer a precise glimpse of how the wildlife behaved before human settlement.

As a reference point, conservation biologists use Fernandina to measure the islands’ recovery. Park managers look to Fernandina to know what Isabela’s wildlife behavior will eventually look like once eradication programmes are done.

The Bolívar Channel runs between Isabela and Fernandina and is one of the most productive cetacean corridors in the Galápagos. Crossing this channel from Isabela’s Tagus Cove or Elizabeth Bay to go to Punta Espinoza is part of the travel experience.

The Cromwell Current comes in from the deep Pacific to the west, causing cold, nutrient-rich water to upwell through the channel. This cold water supports the dense fish populations, creating the ideal feeding ground for marine iguanas, penguins, cormorants, and sea lions at Punta Espinoza. It also draws larger deep-sea creatures into the channel. Bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins are often seen riding the bow waves. Humpback whales, sperm whales, and orcas have all been spotted in the channel.

Since experienced naturalist guides can scan cetacean spouts throughout the crossing, guests are advised to treat it as a marine wildlife encounter in its own right. Morning crossings in calm seas tend to offer the best conditions for sightings.