Zielo Adventures
A Galápagos penguin standing on volcanic rock at the water’s edge

Galápagos wildlife · Bird · Endemic

The Galápagos penguin

Spheniscus mendiculus · Spheniscidae

Short answer

The Galápagos penguin is the only penguin that lives north of the equator. It survives on the equator for one reason: the Cromwell Current, a cold upwelling from the deep Pacific that hits the western islands and drags Antarctic-grade water into the tropics. Take that current away — as a strong El Niño does — and the population collapses. There are roughly 1,200 to 2,000 left, making it the rarest penguin on Earth.

1 m 2 m A person · 1.75 m 49 cm

Actual size

standing height.

Height
49 cm
Weight
2–2.5 kg
Lifespan
15–20 years
The thing people repeat afterwards

It is the only penguin you can see from the northern hemisphere. The equator cuts through northern Isabela, and penguins fish on both sides of it.

Where you actually see one

This is the part a general encyclopedia cannot tell you: not where the species occurs, but which sites you can stand on, and what each one is like.

THE EQUATOR EspañolaFloreanaSan CristóbalSanta CruzFernandinaSantiagoIsabelaMarchenaPinta Bartolomé 1 Las Tintoreras 1 Puerto Villamil 2 Los Túneles 3 Punta Espinosa 4 Pinnacle Rock
  1. 1

    Isabela — Las Tintoreras and the Puerto Villamil channels

    The most reliable sighting reachable without a cruise. Often three or four on the lava at the water’s edge.

  2. 2

    Isabela — Los Túneles

    Penguins fish the shallows here. You may meet one underwater while snorkelling, which is startling the first time.

  3. 3

    Fernandina — Punta Espinosa

    The heart of the population. Cruise access only.

  4. 4

    Bartolomé — The base of Pinnacle Rock

    The classic photograph. Cruise or a long day tour.

Coastlines are real. Darwin and Wolf sit 1.7° further north and are left off so the rest stays legible.

When to go for this one

Year-round, but May to January is the cool season when the current is strongest and the birds are most active. Avoid a strong El Niño year if you can pick.

The archipelago has two seasons and they are good at different things — we break both down here, month by month.

How to tell it apart

  • Tiny — knee height on an adult. Nothing else in the islands looks like it.
  • A thin white line curving from the eye around to the throat.
  • Stands with flippers held out to shed heat, which no polar penguin needs to do.

What it does, and why

  • Hunts in the cold upwellings, usually within a kilometre of shore.
  • Shelters in lava crevices during the heat of the day: on the equator, shade is survival.
  • Breeds opportunistically rather than seasonally — when the fish are there, they nest.

Why people miss it, and who it is not for

This is the part we can write and an encyclopedia cannot: what actually goes wrong when someone comes looking for this animal. It is from running these islands, not from a field guide.

They are not spread across the archipelago

Almost the entire population lives on the west of Isabela and on Fernandina, where the cold current is. An itinerary that stays on Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal will very probably not see one, and the brochure will still have a penguin on the cover.

A strong El Niño year is the wrong year

Warm water pushes the fish deep and the population crashes — after 1982 and 1997 it fell by more than half. In an El Niño year we say so before you book rather than after.

They are knee-high, and people scan the horizon

Visitors look for something the size of an emperor penguin. This one is 49 cm and stands on black rock at the waterline. Most sightings are missed because people were looking too high up.

Conservation status

IUCN Red List: Endangered

Endangered, and the rarest penguin in the world. The 1982–83 El Niño killed an estimated 77% of the population and the 1997–98 event took much of the recovery. Introduced cats and rats on Isabela take eggs and chicks.

Questions people ask about the galápagos penguin

How many Galápagos penguins are left?

Roughly 1,200 to 2,000 individuals, which makes it the rarest penguin species on Earth. Numbers swing hard with El Niño: the 1982–83 event alone is estimated to have killed 77% of them.

How do penguins survive on the equator?

The Cromwell Current. It rises from the deep Pacific against the western islands and drops the sea temperature into the high teens Celsius, which is cold enough to support the fish a penguin needs. The penguin lives in a pocket of Antarctica sitting on the equator.

Where is the best place to see Galápagos penguins?

Fernandina and western Isabela hold most of them, but Fernandina needs a cruise. From land, Las Tintoreras and Los Túneles on Isabela are the reliable spots, and both are on our five- and eight-day itineraries.

Can you swim with Galápagos penguins?

You do not go looking for it, but it happens: they hunt in the same shallow water you snorkel in at Los Túneles and Las Tintoreras. They move like torpedoes and they are not remotely interested in you.

What else is on the same islands

These share at least one island with the galápagos penguin. On a real day out you are likely to see several of them on the same walk.