Puerto Ayora’s fish market on the island Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Archipel
April 5, 2018
Travel photos are the best souvenirs. They make me relive my travels over and over again. Last weekend I was searching for photos to post in a few new travelblogs I wrote. Going through photos from some of my previous travels, I ended up spending half a day enjoying the many photos I took on my trip to the Galapagos Archipel. I found numerous photos from Puerto Ayora’s fish market on the island Santa Cruz. Puerto Ayora’s Academy Bay is a busy harbor, full of boats cruising the islands, passing private yachts and local fishing boats. Not far from the harbor you will find a small fish market. This little bay is a good location to spot brown pelicans, marine iguanas, frigate birds and Galápagos sea lions. I loved this place and came there many times to observe the cheeky sea lions. But there is more to see if you have an eye for it. Marine iguanas are popping up everywhere and looking down toward the shoreline, you will discover colonies of Sally Lightfoot crabs scattered over the lava rocks below.
You can spend hours at the fish market watching the local fisherman bringing in their catch of the day and the resident sea lions trying to snag a free meal. It’s quite a spectacle. On my way to the dive center for some very early dives in Gordon Rocks I passed the market for the first time. It was still closed but some early birds were already there. Sea lions and pelicans were patiently waiting on the dock for the fishermen to return from the sea. When I came back after a great day of diving with hammerhead sharks I passed the market again. Fisherman and sales women were cleaning and selling their fresh fish surrounded and closely watched by a whole gang of hungry sea lions and pelicans. It was great to see how the sea lions pulled out all kind of antics to steal the fish. Every now and then one of them succeeded and then he hurried into the water with his prey to prevent the pelicans and frigate birds to steal his fish. After the fishermen left, the market space was full of sleepy sea lions getting some rest before the next group of fishermen would arrive and the whole spectacle would over start again. It’s a vivid place with a nice atmosphere and a lot to see. In the evenings the fish market becomes an outdoor restaurant where locals and tourist meet to enjoy fresh caught fish, ofcourse surrounded by hungry resident sea lions.
