During a shark-filled week on a live aboard dive boat in the Galapagos Islands , the luxuries are less about boosting thread count and more about boosting your pulse rate .
The captain and crew of the M / V Galapagos Sky live aboard dive boat were wasting no time . As soon as her 16 passengers , from Hong Kong , Austria , Switzerland , Ecuador and the United States were settled on board we were underway — headed to the far northern reaches of the Galapagos Islands , where mega currents attract schools of hammerhead sharks so dense they block out the sun . Whale sharks the size of 18-wheelers appear out of nowhere . Ethereal manta rays seem to �y �y an� �r�hi�tori���oo�in� �n�an��r�� ��n ��h� �a���� mo�a mola in Spanish , can still be spotted .
�or� than ��� mi��� ������ �m� off th� �a�i�� �oa�t o� ���a�or �i� th� Galapagos Islands , an archipelago of 16 main islands , three smaller islands and a number of islets . Formed volcanically between eight million and 90 million years ago , the Galapagos started showing up on maps in 1570 . Pirates discovered place in the 17th century and began using the uninhabited islands for R & R , boat repairs and to stock up on fresh water and food .
The Galapagos Islands were made a national park by the Ecuadorean government in 1959 and UNESCO added the Galapagos as a World Heritage Site in 1978 . Today more than 200,000 tourists visit the Galapagos Islands each year , a burden which landed the Galapagos Islands on UNESCO ’ s list of World Heritage Sites in Danger in 2007 . The islands were removed from the threatened list in 2010 after the Ecuadorean government strengthened environmental and tourism regulations in the region .
Named after a Spanish word for saddle -- since the shells of the massive Galapagos tortoises reminded the Spaniards of saddles -- the Galapagos Islands cover 137 miles ( 220 km ) from the southernmost island ( Española ) to the northernmost islands ( Wolf and Darwin ).
Darwin Island is named for the region ’ s most famous visitor . Charles Darwin arrived in 1853 as a naturalist on board the HMS Beagle . ���r th� �o�r�� o� ���t ��� ����� in the Galapagos he began formulating his game-changing theories about evolution and natural selection after observing unique adaptations in �ommon ����i�� �i�� th� �n�h� Darwin did most of his speciesspotting on dry land but the divers on board the Galapagos Sky , which would serve as our mobile hotel , restaurant and dive shop for the next seven days , were more interested in the species lurking below the surface of the cold , swiftly-moving water .
Dolphins played alongside the Sky as excited divers scrambled into small dinghies for the short ride to our dive site near Wolf Island . We descended to a spot where we were surrounded by dozens of scalloped hammerhead sharks slowly swimming by . They barely bothered to look our way as long as we remained still ; their powerful , deceptively languid movements were mesmerizing . A group of eight spotted eagle rays , ranging from adults , which were more than six feet ( two meters ) a�ro�� to tiny n�� off��rin� that looked like toys , approached our position and hovered , checking us out as much as we were checking them out .
Massive Galapagos sharks , recognizable by their beefy silhouettes , passed by far beneath us . A school of hunting tuna , far more menacing than the sharks , passed as well . Before the hour-long dive was done we also saw a bank of more than 50 hammerheads in the distance . The group was so thick with sharks that it looked like one dark , moving mass rather than individual animals .
And then the whale shark appeared . The largest non-mammal vertebrate
Crew on the Galapagos Sky were always ready with a helping hand , even when it was time to get out of our wet suits
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