Three weeks on

The shipwreck survivors

Were in the heart of the Desolate Region

And in deep despair

In the boat's log

One of the survivors wrote

The violence of raving thirst

Has no parallel in the catalogue of human calamities

They had almost run out of rations

And despite being experienced sailors

Failed to catch a single fish

But there are pockets of richness in the South Pacific

One was well known to the crew of the *****

And would have been in their reach

But for the prevailing winds

Lying over 700miles off the coast of South America

Are the Galapagos Islands

Unlike the open ocean

The seas surrounding these 100or so islands are bursting with life

With many creatures you wouldn't expect to find in tropical seas

Like these sea lions

Despite sitting on the equator

The waters around the Galapagos are cooled

By currents flowing all the way from Antarctica

It is this that allows the Galapagos to be home

To the world's only tropical penguin

Tropical fish live here too

Thanks to the nutrients carried by the cool current

There is an abundance of life