Area Size: 3 Km²
Maximum Altitude:  260 meters / 850 feet
Island Highlights:  American Sea Lion, Great Frigatebird, Marine Iguana, Santa Fé Land Iguana, Galapagos Hawk, Galapagos Mockingbird, Santa Fé Rice Rat, Galapagos Snake, Prickly Pear

Introduction
Santa Fé is located some 20 km southeast of Santa Cruz Island and at approximately 4 million years old, is one of the oldest islands in the Galapagos archipelago.

The island offers one of the most picturesque and sheltered coves in the Galapagos and makes for a fantastic day trip - either on land, or by means of one of our full day boat based diving trips our from Santa Cruz Island. We also visit the island on certain Galapagos Yacht Safaris.

The island has no freshwater supply and as such has remained relatively undisturbed by human activity or feral animals.

Wildlife
An animal of particular interest on Santa Fé is the metre long Santa Fé land iguana which can only be found on this island.  Owing to a number of defining characteristics, these iguanas are considered in a class of their own in comparison to those that reside on the other islands.  This endemic iguana has prominent spines which extend down its back and is a much lighter orangey yellow than iguanas found on other islands.  It is not completely clear as to how this species of iguana has evolved, but it now appears that its numbers are declining as ever decreasing sightings are being reported.  The cause of this decline is thought to be the 2001 oil spill from the grounded tanker Jessica.

The Santa Fé land iguana lives alongside another endemic resident of the island: the prickly pear (Opuntia cacti). It is close to one of these trees that you have the best chance of seeing an iguana.  The tree's derives from the pear shaped fruit the tree produces.  This cactus is one of the largest trees in the Galapagos archipelago and can grow up to 10 metres tall.

Another unique species to look out for on Santa Fé is that of the Galapagos snake, the bite of which is mildly poisonous.

A worthwhile nature trail can be followed into the highland region, which presents numerous opportunities to see land iguanas.  The 1 ½ km walk may be strenuous, but is well worth the effort upon reaching the summit, where excellent views of the island the glistening ocean can be sought.  The trail provides a fascinating variety of wildlife, including the Galapagos dove, Galapagos snake and Santa Fé rice rat.

The best way to see the terrestrial nature of Santa Fé is onboard one of our Wildlife Yacht Safaris or boat based sections of our Galapagos Yacht & Lodge Safaris.

Marine Life
An idyllic turquoise lagoon makes for an ideal anchorage site and is protected by a line of small islets.  Upon landing ashore, visitors are greeted by colonies of sealions, the females of which laze in the sun, while the bull barks and patrols his territory.

Santa Fé provides some of the best opportunities in the Galapagos Islands to encounter Pacific green sea turtles, which swim gracefully through the ocean currents and provide excellent photo opportunities.

Aqua-Firma can take you snorkelling at Santa Fé on our Wildlife Yacht Safaris or boat based sections of our Galapagos Yacht & Lodge Safaris; and scuba diving here on our Land Based Diving holidays and extensions from Santa Cruz.

Conservation Issues
In 1971, feral goats were completely eradicated from the island.  The successful removal of these unwanted residents meant that the population of many endemic species to the island subsequently increased.  Such population increases included the Galapagos hawk, Galapagos snake, rice rats, many species of finch and the Galapagos mockingbird.

In 2001 an oil spill off the coast of San Cristobal had an almost catastrophic effect on Santa Fé after depositing around 3 million litres of crude oil into the sea.  At the time it appeared that Santa Fé was going to get off relatively lightly, since the concentration of oil was fairly low in comparison to other tanker accidents. However, researchers discovered that even this small amount of oil has had severe effects on the wild animals.  Scientists estimated that as many as 15,000 marine iguanas died on Santa Fé Island in the 11 months following the incident.  That's about 60% of the original population.

In terms of other wildlife affected by the spill, the numbers of sea lions and seabirds declined noticeably.  The Charles Darwin Foundation played a leading role in the clean up and recovery process which consequently helped the island to return to health. Such environmental disasters as these have reinforced the need for future mitigation, ecological monitoring, disaster prevention and contingency planning.

The captain of the oil tanker which ran aground was jailed for 90 days and had his professional licence was suspended.

Geology
Santa Fé was formed by submarine basaltic lava that rose from the ocean floor some 4 million years ago.  It is crossed by a number of parallel cliffs, formed by fault activity.