Red Footed Booby Flock Join Tourist For Sightseeing In Remote Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are home to some of the most diverse and abundant life on the planet. The animals here are notoriously unafraid of people and they regard them with indifference or curiosity.

These are juvenile red footed boobies, a species of bird that is common in the Galapagos Islands. Their name comes from the Spanish word "bobo", meaning foolish or clown, due their clumsy appearance on land. But in the air, they are powerful fliers. They spend their time on cliffs near the ocean, waiting for schools of bait fish to come to the surface. The boobies plunge head first into the water to catch their food.

This tourist was enjoying a peaceful moment at the front of the scuba diving boat near Darwin Island when a flock of boobies joined him. They watched with curiosity as he moved to the ladder to go down to the lower level. The birds are surprisingly calm about a human sitting with them as they too, enjoy the view.