June 3, 2024 • 31 mins
Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador in the open ocean, a volcanic archipelago straddles the equator. The Galapagos Islands, forged of black lava and named for the giant tortoises that are among their most noted inhabitants, are like no other place on Earth. Home to a profuse array of unique wildlife, the islands offer an immersion in nature that feels primeval. Iguanas and blue-footed boobies share the beaches with us, unfazed by our presence. Giant tortoises amble through our private camp, their golden eyes looking out from wizened faces. Inquisitive sea lions play with us in the clear turquoise water, as Galapagos penguins dart by and sea turtles glide past. Author Herman Melville, who visited the islands in 1841, shortly after Darwin's momentous visit, called them the "Enchanted Isles"—an apt moniker for a realm that remains otherworldly, even today.
Prepare to be transported to these breathtaking Islands as Martyn recounts his unforgettable 2019 adventure. In this episode, he shares his initial surprise at the bustling life on Santa Cruz and then quickly escapes to immerse himself in the diverse landscapes —from volcanic craters to serene mangrove forests of the remote and rugged Isabela Island.
Picture the exhilarating yet rough ferry ride that led to encounters with frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, marine iguanas, and even Galapagos penguins. He vividly describes the island's lush mangroves, twisting vines, and pristine beaches that create a picture of an untouched paradise. Through personal anecdotes and observations, he paints a vibrant picture of the island's unique wildlife behaviors and captivating interactions.
Lastly, he reflects on the complex balance between conservation and tourism. His experiences navigating the crowded and commercialized areas of Santa Cruz contrast sharply with the untouched beauty of Isabella, raising important questions about the impact of human presence. Despite these challenges, his passion for responsible eco-tourism shines through. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on the importance of preserving the Galapagos' natural splendor for future generations, punctuated by personal challenges and moments of awe.
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Martyn Stewart (00:01):
This is Martin Stewart, with a life in sound
from the Listening Planet.
Amanda Hill (00:15):
Hello Martin.
So today we're going to headover to the Pacific Ocean and to
a group of volcanic islands andsmaller islets renowned for
their remarkable biodiversityand unique ecosystems.
Islands and smaller isletsrenowned for their remarkable
biodiversity and uniqueecosystems.
They're about 1 000 kilometersoff the east coast of the coast
of ecdor in south america.
Where are we?
Martyn Stewart (00:31):
we're in the galapagos okay.
Amanda Hill (00:33):
So tell me, I'm desperate to go to the galapagos
islands and I haven't yet beenum, primarily actually because
you have to be a certain age tobe able to also dive in the
galapagos.
I think you have have to be 15,16, and all this is an old man.
So tell me first, when did yougo, what year did you go to the
Galapagos?
Martyn Stewart (00:51):
2019,.
Amanda Hill (00:53):
I think Okay, and where did you first land and
tell me about.
Martyn Stewart (00:59):
You land in the capital, ecuador, okay, and you
get a plane out to an island I'mreally crap at Spanish so you
land there and all you know isyou're not going to live on the
island where you land.
So you get this thing I hatecalled a boat and you get all
(01:21):
your crap into the boat and theydrop you off.
It's only like 10, 15 minutesand then you go on to Santa Cruz
, where it's like a littlecommunity, a lot of people.
It was a real great shock whenI saw the Galapagos, because
people I'd spoken to yearsbefore saying how pristine it
(01:42):
was and how protected it was andit wasn't the case, and when I
saw all these people and barsand all that stuff, and at night
time you've got bar noises andmusic and this is just one of
these treasure chests in thewhole of the world and we've got
along and had a party there andto my mind, it was a huge big
(02:06):
off-putt as soon as I saw that,was that just on the main island
, though, does it?
just on the main island, um, andof course they were talking
about.
There's a lot of people talkingabout conservation there and
what they do with litter andrubbish and of course,
inevitably you're going to findwhen people turn up to a place
they're going to start disposingof rubbish, but it's such a
(02:29):
treasure chest in a place of theworld that is just unique.
And when you know the story ofCharles Darwin and what he
discovered, you couldn't becloser to the truth with what he
experienced, to what Iexperienced, but still amazing
place.
Couldn't be closer to the truthwith what he experienced, to
what I experienced, but stillamazing place.
Most of my, most of my life,I've been trying to sneak up on
(02:51):
wildlife to record them.
And then here you, you findthat you can just walk up to
them because they have no senseof fear, so it's kind of cool so
let's start.
Amanda Hill (03:02):
Let's start in santa cruz, and that's one of
the main islands, right?
So you've got the ferry over tosanta cruz and I know that you
get seasick, but now put theseasick bit to one side.
You're there.
What are the first?
What does the island look like?
I also know that the islandsare very different some volcanic
, some mangrove forests, somevolcanic craters versus lots of
(03:23):
vegetation.
What is s Santa Cruz like?
Tell me first what I'm seeing.
Martyn Stewart (03:27):
There's various places where you can educate
yourself on Santa Cruz.
There's trails everywhere.
You have to stick to the trails.
You can't just wander off.
And being me, you know, I wantto move away from as many people
as possible with my bag and mymicrophones and recorders.
But where you can get to wherepeople don't like to go is where
(03:53):
you find me.
And one of the firstfascinating things that I
discovered was the gianttortoises.
And the tortoises are justincredible and they have a
breeding program there.
Whereas you know a lot of them,a lot of the old species became
extinct, so there's a breedingprogram and you see different
(04:14):
stages of their life there'sthere's a lot of a lot of pens
and things where they'restarting them up and they
release them onto the islands,um, but I was able to have a few
moments to record the hissingand stuff.
And when you see these giantthings, when you see some of the
big ones, yeah, and reaching upyou you see a lot of the fauna
(04:35):
on the island is you see a lotof this sort of pontia, a lot of
prickly pear, and you can tellwhere the tortoises go to
because they have these suchlong necks.
And as they're reaching up, yousee about four feet of the
bottom of the cactus just beingeaten away.
So the cactus is kind ofstanding there on its one leg
(04:58):
going.
You can't get this piece, but Ifound out that ET was modelled
on one of these giant tortoises.
I didn out that ET was modelledon one of these giant toys.
I didn't know that.
Amanda Hill (05:09):
When I first get to the island, to Santa Cruz, is
there a soundscape that I hear?
What's the whole soundscapefeel like?
Martyn Stewart (05:18):
Ocean, a lot of ocean, a lot of ocean sounds A
lot of finches, a lot of themockingbirds in the local areas
which sing in a way, and thenseabirds as well.
I see a lot of seabirds.
Waters are unbelievable, thewaters are so clear, and yet I'm
told that if you come in oneparticular time of the year, you
(05:41):
can't see anything, which is ashame.
So if you're going to go thereI think it's between maybe
november and may or somethingyou're supposed to go there and
that becomes nice and clear, sothen you can see all the turtles
swimming around and theseamazing sea lions.
Amanda Hill (05:59):
So and it's also.
Isn't santa cruz also owned tothe dar finches?
I've got the Darwin finches,yeah.
Martyn Stewart (06:06):
And they're in flocks you see a lot of these
finches in flocks, so you get alot of flock noises.
There's a drone from Santa Cruzthat is a people drone, which,
as a recordist, it's adisappointment for me because I
just want everyone to get offthe island.
Amanda Hill (06:28):
It's the first thing I want to do, and that's
because Santa Cruz is just sopopulated.
It's so populated.
Is that what it is?
Martyn Stewart (06:33):
But when you go there you have to.
There is a deterrent in theform of people have to pay to go
on because it is a nationalpark, you know, and I think it's
about $100 or something to goon because it is a national park
, you know, and you, I thinkit's about a hundred dollars or
something to go on and somepeople, you know, get put off
for that.
But there's also so many placeswhere you can get tours and you
have to have a guide with you.
(06:55):
So I I had a guide with me andhe turned his back a few times
when I just go off the beatentrack, but I my my objective was
to go to Isabella.
Amanda Hill (07:07):
I did Isabella as much as possible.
We've left the hostel.
Okay, so we leave the hosteland bustle of Santa Cruz, where
there are other human beings,and we know that you're not
particularly a fan of humanbeings, martin, so we go to
Isabella.
How do you get to Isabella?
Didn't you get Caesar going toIsabella, isabella is horrible.
The trip to Isabella.
Martyn Stewart (07:26):
Isabella is horrible.
The trip to Isabella.
Isabella is beautiful, butIsabella to get there is
horrible.
You're in the beck and call ofthe powers that be and I'm
always one of these guys whoends up staring at someone who's
going to be sick or oh my god.
And you're on the boat, in theferry, and there's like a circle
seat from top to bottom.
(07:48):
You're facing various peopleand I'm not kidding you, the
water is so rough when you're onthe in the boat and I'm I'm the
worst.
I told you the story, I think,of the time I was in new zealand
when I had to go and record onthe South Island of Stewart
Island and, to my dismay, thecaptain told me it was a
(08:08):
four-hour trip on a boat.
He told me that.
I told him I was going to besick and he said eat oranges.
And I asked him if that workedand he said no, but they taste
the same.
Coming back up and I'm thinkingwhen I'm going to Isabella, I
wonder how long it's going to bebefore I'm sick.
We stayed on Isabella for acouple of days.
(08:28):
There's only about 1,500, 2,000people on Isabella, so it's
kind of cool and it's nice thatway, but again, you're supposed
to stay with the guide, but myobjective was to get frigate
birds and blue-fitted boobies,and when you see these
characters they're likesomething out of the circus.
(08:49):
They're just unbelievable.
Amanda Hill (08:51):
The frigate birds, so blue-fitted boobies might be.
Oh, the boobies are justspectacular.
They're my favourite.
Martyn Stewart (08:56):
And the blue is just beautiful.
And I saw the dance.
I saw the dance between maleand female and they really do
show off with each other.
You know that dance going onthe ones that were close to me I
couldn't get any vocalizationsbecause it's almost like a mime.
(09:17):
It's just incredible.
And then, a few feet away fromthem, there's a female on top of
her eggs and no wildlife runsaway.
Nothing gets scared of you, sothey've never been predated by
anything.
It's just like some kind ofheaven that you're just blessed
(09:40):
to be able to be in.
It's just incredible.
Amanda Hill (09:43):
So on, isabella, tell me what the vegetation is
like there.
Is it very different from SantaCruz?
Martyn Stewart (09:49):
Vegetation is a lot of mangrove, there's a lot
of twisting vines.
When you walk down the trails,there are thick, thick stems
that hang over the place and youget that buzz of insects and
you get birds that will come andplace, and, and you get that
buzz of insects and you, you get, you know, birds that will come
and land and vocalize and doall that kind of stuff.
(10:11):
It's um, it's a special placeand of course my mind is to go
into a place where nobody is,which I was able to do.
But the beaches were justspectacular white sand and water
as clear and that beautifultropical, green, bluey,
turquoise color.
And then you know you can sitnext to a sea lion, talk to him,
(10:34):
you know he's just sitting,he's just taking in the sunshine
and you have a couple of growlsor whatever it's.
Amanda Hill (10:42):
It's just spectacular so tell me who else
I find on the beach.
So I'm gonna find the sea lions.
The giant tortoises are also onisabella.
Did you see any of the marineiguanas?
Martyn Stewart (10:54):
loads of marine iguanas.
Okay, I dropped a hydrophone inthe water.
I didn't get much stuff, butthey go into the water and then
they're looking for sea algaeand stuff and it's almost like
this carpet just walks into theocean and starts swimming around
and then, of course, so manyturtles.
You see rays, you know, I saw abunch of rays.
(11:18):
I think that was probablycoming into Santa Cruz, but it's
almost like nature's zoo.
You know everything's there.
There's so much you've got totake in.
You're almost saying, look atthat, look at that, look at that
, look at that, look at that,look at that.
It's just, you know.
You know what I'm like.
I'm like a kid in a sweet shop.
Amanda Hill (11:39):
Do you see the Galapagos penguins on Isabella.
Martyn Stewart (11:46):
I saw the penguins on Isabella.
I saw a flamingo on Isabellatoo.
I didn't get much vocalisationfrom the flamingos.
How do the penguins hang out?
What are they like?
Tell me about them.
There's a bunch of individualsthat I'd seen.
I saw one penguin shootingaround like a dart underwater,
(12:10):
so quick and so fast and agile.
Of course, I didn't get anyvocalizations of them, which is
always to a point.
That's the reason why I'malways there, point.
That's.
That's the reason why I'malways there.
But there was um from isabella,I think.
We took a boat out to this rockarea where there was seabirds,
(12:31):
maybe something like plazaisland or something which is not
far from there.
You just go out.
Many times to my downfall is myinability to to be in a boat.
You know, most, most of mystuff is recorded on land.
I always, I always believe when, when the pope turns up to a
country and he gets off theplane and he kisses the floor,
(12:54):
he's not blessing the place he'sjust arrived in, he's just
kissing the floor and sayingthank god for terra firma, and
that's how I feel all the time.
Amanda Hill (13:02):
Who knew that you had such a fragile system,
martin oh?
Martyn Stewart (13:05):
it's terrible.
A lot of pelagic birds are outof my list.
I could, if I liked, boats alot more.
I think I'd have a lot morepelagic species.
Amanda Hill (13:16):
So what else did you see?
So talk to me about what like.
What does the morning soundlike in Isabella?
What does the evening soundlike?
What am I hearing at differentpoints in the day?
Martyn Stewart (13:27):
You have that kind of 12 hours sunshine, 12
hours darkness.
So you have these insectchoruses which are pretty
typical of Central South Americaor that equatorial zone.
And when the sun goes down,you've got these beautiful
(13:48):
choruses of cicada insects andin the morning you have that
awakening Same thing with lotsof Darwin finches and lots of
mockingbirds, tropical kingbirds.
You have birds that will flyover the top of you, some
seabirds.
It's just I'm not, you know,I'm not a birder.
Amanda Hill (14:10):
So I know you tell us that all the time, but you've
still recorded thousands ofthem I bet you, there's probably
a lot of birds.
Martyn Stewart (14:18):
I don't know what the hell they are.
You know and I've notidentified them to a point.
So while I'm on the galapagos,there's no reference point as to
what, what you're listening to.
You just say there's a birdthere.
I haven't heard that before andyou know I'm colorblind and I
can't identify what I'm lookingat we have a colorblind c6 sound
(14:38):
recordist but there's.
There was things like black,black necked stilts and
blue-footed boobies.
I had tons of recordings ofblue-footed boobies there.
There's brown pelicans, there'scactus finches, there's petrels
, there's Darwin finches.
(14:59):
Of course, there's dusky gulls.
There's flightless cormorantswhich are on one of the main
islands, llandina I think it is,but I was able to find some
flightless?
Um cormorants on isabella.
There's um galapagos duskygulls, fur seals, giant
(15:19):
tortoises.
There's galapagos hawks,there's the galapagos
mockingbird um, there's a ton ofshit like that, you know, which
I've never encountered before,which is just beautiful when you
went to the galapagos, tell mewhich of the species that you
saw that you'd never seenanywhere before.
Amanda Hill (15:36):
So the blue-footed booby is that.
Martyn Stewart (15:38):
That was the star.
That was the star, yeah, thatwas like going to Vegas and
seeing Danny LaRue or what wasthe guy with the piano, liberace
.
It's almost like going in andsomeone's standing on the stage
warming the audience up, and inon comes Liberace with his
outfit on playing the piano.
That's what the blue footedboob is like and do they have a
(15:59):
good?
Amanda Hill (16:00):
because I've only seen them dance lots, because I
seem to put them in every singlething that I do.
But what's their vocalisationlike?
Sounds like this ok, so you,you stay on Isabella, and then
eventually, I think, you alsomake it over to San Cristobal.
Martyn Stewart (16:19):
Yes, Cristobal.
Amanda Hill (16:21):
So tell me what does that island look like
Before we think about the sounds.
And then I want to know whatthe soundscape is like when I
get there.
Martyn Stewart (16:29):
Cristobal, lots of frigate birds, lots of sea
lions, lots of iguanas.
Amanda Hill (16:36):
Is it still lush vegetation or is it more
volcanic?
Martyn Stewart (16:39):
It's lush vegetation and beautiful sands
yeah, again, the ocean beinggorgeous.
And anywhere you go, your matebecomes a sea lion.
You know you can see sea lionsin bars, under staircases, under
chairs, jumping into someone'sboat and cap on, you know, and
smoke a fag and they're justadorable and they're king.
(17:04):
You know they're the king ofthe animals on the island, and
get out of the way because I'mcoming through.
They tell you that you'resupposed to stay six feet away
from all the animals, but whenyou're walking down one of the
trails, the seals and sea lionsI've encountered around the
world will take a swipe at you.
You know, the ones that I'veseen in the skeleton coast of
(17:26):
Namibia, the ones I've seen downin New Zealand, the ones I've
seen down in Patagonia, all ofthese ones.
You don't want to be six feetin front of those, but these
ones are just incredible.
But the frigatebirds were oneof the target species that I
wanted to get to thevocalizations of the males
(17:48):
they're kind of a bunch ofshow-offs.
They're showing off becausethey they have to do that thing
to get the woman.
So you know, look at me andit's it's kind of, it's kind of
romantic in.
In a lot of ways the specialone wins and gets the bird.
There are frigate bird coloniesthat you, you can see and
they're very vicious towardseach other.
(18:09):
They'll try and burst theirbags, you know.
Their vocal balloons areunderneath their chins and
they'll, they'll attack thoseand you can see some of the
frigate birds with these rips inso they can't blow them up.
But when they blow them up,have you ever sucked on one of
those helium balloons, you know?
and I was young so it's almostlike that and they have this
(18:33):
chatter and this conversationgoing on.
It's just amazing.
So I was very lucky to get, um,a lot of uh, a lot of
frigatebird vocalizations and alot of booby vocalizations, and
then to me it didn't matter whatelse I got, everything was a
bonus I still find it quitefunny that a seasick man decided
(18:55):
to go to the Galapagos, whereeverything's an island and you
have to get a boat everywhereyou go.
Amanda Hill (19:02):
Did it not temper your enthusiasm for the travel?
Martyn Stewart (19:05):
I'm always nervous about that stuff.
If there's a boat involved, I'malways nervous.
You know Roo would tell youthat.
Will you go on a cruise and gosomewhere?
No, thank you.
No, I don't want to do it.
Amanda Hill (19:18):
Tell me what's your .
I ask you this quite a lot, butif you closed your eyes and you
have to conjure up the scene soyou can hear it, I know that if
I placed you in a place, youcould hear it and tell me where
you are.
Tell me what's in your mindwhen you're, when you, when you
hear the galapagos.
You can't see anything.
You're switched off.
What are you hearing?
Martyn Stewart (19:38):
you're hearing distant sea lions.
Certain times of the daythey'll they'll be calling each
other, um, you hear seabirds.
You hear, um, the petrels whichwill be flying around the towns
.
The dawn is that kind ofchatterbox time.
(19:58):
There's a lot of bird soundsthat are calling each other, but
it doesn't have that effectlike the mainland.
It doesn't have that kind ofcacophony of sounds where, if
I'm being really honest with you, the negative part of seeing so
many people, the shock ofseeing so many people on the
(20:19):
islands, gave me a negative kindof view and it it's that thing
of me again that wants toprotect.
So I'm one of these type ofpeople that when I enjoy an
experience of nature I don'twant to share it with people
because I don't want them to goand I I want it to be a safe
haven for animals.
So when I, when I saw theGalapagos, when you go and see
(20:42):
something and it lets you down,you don't kind of tell a lot of
people how good it was, you tellon how negative it was yeah but
there was a protective naturewith me that that I think it's
one of these places where youthink here we go again.
Amanda Hill (20:57):
Man is stuffing everything off but you feel that
less when you went out, whenyou got away from santa cruz
when I was on isabella.
Martyn Stewart (21:05):
Yes, and san cristobal and san cristobal, but
especially, especially isabella.
There's so much of isabella,but especially, especially
isabella.
There's so much of isabella youcan't get to yeah you just can't
go, and I would love to be ableto go there.
I'd love to be able to one dayjust go there and be fit enough.
So because it's quite a hike, Imean, you really do have to use
(21:26):
a lot of your leg muscles toget around.
You can't get an uber or a taxi, you can't do you know whatever
.
But I used to believe that youcould only go to the galapagos
and be on there and come backagain to the mainland.
I didn't know before I went.
You know on this excursion thatthere were hotels and bars and
restaurants and all this.
(21:47):
I think what the hell?
If you were to dig up CharlesDarwin, you know, and say, look
at this, this is 2024 or 2019.
This is the Galapagos Islands,he would be horrified.
Amanda Hill (22:00):
But so help me on, because the number of places
I've been to where I've had thatsame experience.
Even when I first went toBelize Martin, when I landed in
the main city I couldn't get outfast enough, but the moment I
was out it was one of the mostbeautiful places I've been to in
the world.
We touched on that, didn't we,with belize and I feel city is
like santa cruz but I really,when I got there, wondered why I
(22:22):
was there, and the moment Ileft I couldn't get over how
beautiful it was, and so for theI really want to go to the
black and I get very nervousabout leaving it till too late,
because I do worry about thedegradation and I worry about
how protected it really is.
But what you're basicallysaying is that first experience
can be a bit of a shock, becauseyou didn't expect that first
(22:45):
experience.
Martyn Stewart (22:46):
To a lot of people.
It wouldn't be a shock To a lotof people.
They would say this iswonderful.
Amanda Hill (22:51):
No, I think it still would.
I think In my head, until Ispoke to you now, I had no idea.
I honestly thought that peopleare out in boats and they took a
limited number of people everyyear and it was really not built
up.
I mean, I have a very differentimage in my head of what I
thought.
But maybe what we're talkingabout is the further you get
into the islands, but those mainparts, our main parts, they're
(23:12):
tourist destinations now.
Martyn Stewart (23:14):
So you have to get off Santa Cruz to get out
onto the islands to reallyexperience what Galapagos is
like all my life I've seenplaces where you know, even when
I was born and I lived on acouncil estate, there was green
belt that went on for miles andmiles and the older I've got
I've seen situations like thatand seen how built up that we've
(23:35):
become.
And when you get to moderntechnology and you're able to do
an aerial view of a place overa period of 20 years, it's such
a shock yeah I mean when you seea map of the, the night sky of
the world and the amount oflights that's everywhere it's.
it's just that I, I think santacruz, where we stayed, we were
(23:56):
probably about 10, 15 minutesout of the town.
I wanted to stay local, alwaysjust stay in the local area.
I didn't want the tourism thing.
So 10, 15 minutes away youdidn't have the night booms of
music going on and I wasthinking what effect does that
have on the environment over aperiod of time?
(24:17):
The animals are not used topredation, you know, they're not
scared of anything but,suddenly they've had to adjust
to this thing, this rhythm inthe night which is foreign to
them yeah and how have that?
how's that adjusted their life?
So I, when you go to isabellaand you go, there's one
particular trail.
You go down and you come to theend and the beach.
(24:38):
It's a very long walk and whenyou look across the bay, there
are parts of Isabella that arenot accessible and I want it to
stay like that.
And if it meant that I couldn'tgo, I'm happy with that,
because if I can't go, nobodyelse can go.
So I'm thinking we could justdesignate that little bit of
land for the animals and stoppushing ourselves out and down
(25:02):
down the animals throats.
It's an experience of joy, it'san experience of sadness all in
one for me, because it's such aspecial place yeah you know you,
you only ever talked about theGalapagos as being this unique
environment, and then it'salmost like you were told a lie
yeah and I know that soundsnegative, but I'm very
(25:25):
protective of natural lands, butit's not.
Amanda Hill (25:27):
I think what you're saying is really important in
terms of more than most placesin the world.
They do an immense amount ofwork for conservation and to
protect it as a national park.
But tourism we talked aboutthis in costa rica, martin, a
couple of podcasts ago it justwe can't help ourselves but
become the invasive species.
We talk about them, protectingthem from other invasive species
(25:49):
, but the human ends up beingthe invasive species and we end
up dominating the environment,and it's always that.
And they do an incredible jobof also limiting the number of
people that are allowed to goout into the islands, and so
they're doing a really good jobof it.
But for someone like you, it'sstill in the main areas and it's
just the main areas.
(26:09):
It's still.
It's overwhelming.
It's not what you'd expect.
It's true, it's not what you'dexpect.
Let's turn to um.
If you're going to go back, Ialways ask you this I'd go back.
Martyn Stewart (26:19):
I'd like to be able to take as much ginger as
possible to stop my seasicknessand go and look at some other
different islands around hereand hire a boat, you know, and
try and get onto many of theseplaces as possible.
Just to just to record.
(26:40):
I'd like to um, I'd like toexplore Isabella more and I'd
like to go back a different timeof the year because, having
known the best time of year wasbetween November and May, I'd
like to probably go May toSeptember when nobody else is
there when there's nobody there,but but then you don't see as
(27:04):
much of the stuff in the oceanitself, which is fine with me,
because I listen, I see throughmy sound, you know if you can I
ask you a question, martin?
Amanda Hill (27:12):
so you drop the, you drop your microphone into
the ocean.
I'm beginning to you.
Know, everyone who's listeningto this thinks I should know
this about you.
Know everyone who's listeningto this thinks I should know
this about you.
But clearly your seasickness isa very dominant part of this
particular podcast.
So how does that mean thatyou're capturing sounds
underwater, because I knowyou've got lots of the ocean
sounds?
Do you stay away from theseabirds that are too far off
(27:35):
land?
What about the uh creaturesunderwater?
Rue would be listening.
Martyn Stewart (27:41):
Rue would listen to this thing we we did, um one
of the first things that we did, together with water involved,
we went to your dad's wedding onthe cayman islands and for the
wedding present we bought them adive.
Amanda Hill (27:56):
Yeah.
Martyn Stewart (27:57):
And holy shit did I suffer for that.
So Rue is a professional diver,she has a PADI certificate and
all that, and she was able totake me on a resort dive.
We went out and stuffed my luck, the boat that we went out on.
They were looking for a diverthat had been lost and obviously
(28:18):
died.
And this was in my head andthey're telling me what I'm
supposed to do when I get in thewater and how I should breathe
and how I should wet my mask andI should do this.
But I went into the water, theytook me real, took me down how
many feet, god knows how manymeters or whatever, and I was
absolutely ill and I was tryingto get to the top to be sick and
(28:42):
as soon as I was sick, allthese fish came in, ate
everything that I bellowed upand I told her I can't do boats,
I just can't do boats.
So if I get on a boat to do ahydrophone thing, I've got to go
out, I've got to stop the boat,I've got to drop it as quick as
possible, record as quickly asI can and get the hell back to
(29:05):
shore.
It's just that way.
I just can't help it.
You know, the beach, across theroad, we have turtles laying
their eggs between May andSeptember and it's just an
incredible experience.
You see Same turtles which aredown in the Galapagos.
We've got loggerheads and greenturtles and leatherbacks and
(29:29):
Ridley's turtles.
I took my canoe I own a canoeright.
Amanda Hill (29:34):
I own a bloody canoe, just staggering,
staggering.
Martyn Stewart (29:37):
And I was talking to the um, the
university of florida, whoregulate and and document all
the turtle nests that come inevery day, and they told me that
green turtles don't vocalize.
And I said I'm sure they do andthey said no, there was no
recollection of anyvocalizations.
So I got my canoe, carried itacross the road, took my
(30:02):
recorder and hydrophone, gotonto the boat, got past the
riptide, went out into the ocean, dropped the hydrophone into
the water.
I could hear these pulses goingon and the closer I got to
these green turtles they werevocalizing.
So I got it, got ashore, spewedup, took, took the recording to
the university of florida andsaid there's a green turtle what
(30:24):
did they say?
Amanda Hill (30:24):
it's the one.
I'm very proud of you for yourstubbornness it was unbelievable
.
Martyn Stewart (30:28):
They couldn't believe it that's amazing they
couldn't believe it.
They said it are you sure it'ssomething, not something else?
And I said no, it's definitelythese green turtles, as they
were mating on top of each otherand it's that.
So I don't know what's going onin the ocean.
You know, you can't see.
(30:48):
It's like recording bats atnight.
Amanda Hill (30:51):
Especially if you won't go under it, martin, I
won't go under.
Martyn Stewart (30:56):
That's called drowning, Mandy.
Amanda Hill (30:59):
So we will on the next podcast.
We have to pick a place that isparticularly a dry land place,
I think, and not surrounded bywater is the biggest.
Martyn Stewart (31:07):
Yeah, let's do terra firma.
Amanda Hill (31:12):
Yeah, I think we'll close it there.
Martyn Stewart (31:16):
You've just experienced another journey on
the listening planet podcast.
Dive deeper into the world ofnatural sounds by connecting
with us online.
Visit our website or follow uson social media.
Let the symphony of naturesurround you wherever you go.
Happy listening.
This is Martin Stewart, with a life in sound
from the Listening Planet.
Amanda Hill (00:15):
Hello Martin.
So today we're going to headover to the Pacific Ocean and to
a group of volcanic islands andsmaller islets renowned for
their remarkable biodiversityand unique ecosystems.
Islands and smaller isletsrenowned for their remarkable
biodiversity and uniqueecosystems.
They're about 1 000 kilometersoff the east coast of the coast
of ecdor in south america.
Where are we?
Martyn Stewart (00:31):
we're in the galapagos okay.
Amanda Hill (00:33):
So tell me, I'm desperate to go to the galapagos
islands and I haven't yet beenum, primarily actually because
you have to be a certain age tobe able to also dive in the
galapagos.
I think you have have to be 15,16, and all this is an old man.
So tell me first, when did yougo, what year did you go to the
Galapagos?
Martyn Stewart (00:51):
2019,.
Amanda Hill (00:53):
I think Okay, and where did you first land and
tell me about.
Martyn Stewart (00:59):
You land in the capital, ecuador, okay, and you
get a plane out to an island I'mreally crap at Spanish so you
land there and all you know isyou're not going to live on the
island where you land.
So you get this thing I hatecalled a boat and you get all
(01:21):
your crap into the boat and theydrop you off.
It's only like 10, 15 minutesand then you go on to Santa Cruz
, where it's like a littlecommunity, a lot of people.
It was a real great shock whenI saw the Galapagos, because
people I'd spoken to yearsbefore saying how pristine it
(01:42):
was and how protected it was andit wasn't the case, and when I
saw all these people and barsand all that stuff, and at night
time you've got bar noises andmusic and this is just one of
these treasure chests in thewhole of the world and we've got
along and had a party there andto my mind, it was a huge big
(02:06):
off-putt as soon as I saw that,was that just on the main island
, though, does it?
just on the main island, um, andof course they were talking
about.
There's a lot of people talkingabout conservation there and
what they do with litter andrubbish and of course,
inevitably you're going to findwhen people turn up to a place
they're going to start disposingof rubbish, but it's such a
(02:29):
treasure chest in a place of theworld that is just unique.
And when you know the story ofCharles Darwin and what he
discovered, you couldn't becloser to the truth with what he
experienced, to what Iexperienced, but still amazing
place.
Couldn't be closer to the truthwith what he experienced, to
what I experienced, but stillamazing place.
Most of my, most of my life,I've been trying to sneak up on
(02:51):
wildlife to record them.
And then here you, you findthat you can just walk up to
them because they have no senseof fear, so it's kind of cool so
let's start.
Amanda Hill (03:02):
Let's start in santa cruz, and that's one of
the main islands, right?
So you've got the ferry over tosanta cruz and I know that you
get seasick, but now put theseasick bit to one side.
You're there.
What are the first?
What does the island look like?
I also know that the islandsare very different some volcanic
, some mangrove forests, somevolcanic craters versus lots of
(03:23):
vegetation.
What is s Santa Cruz like?
Tell me first what I'm seeing.
Martyn Stewart (03:27):
There's various places where you can educate
yourself on Santa Cruz.
There's trails everywhere.
You have to stick to the trails.
You can't just wander off.
And being me, you know, I wantto move away from as many people
as possible with my bag and mymicrophones and recorders.
But where you can get to wherepeople don't like to go is where
(03:53):
you find me.
And one of the firstfascinating things that I
discovered was the gianttortoises.
And the tortoises are justincredible and they have a
breeding program there.
Whereas you know a lot of them,a lot of the old species became
extinct, so there's a breedingprogram and you see different
(04:14):
stages of their life there'sthere's a lot of a lot of pens
and things where they'restarting them up and they
release them onto the islands,um, but I was able to have a few
moments to record the hissingand stuff.
And when you see these giantthings, when you see some of the
big ones, yeah, and reaching upyou you see a lot of the fauna
(04:35):
on the island is you see a lotof this sort of pontia, a lot of
prickly pear, and you can tellwhere the tortoises go to
because they have these suchlong necks.
And as they're reaching up, yousee about four feet of the
bottom of the cactus just beingeaten away.
So the cactus is kind ofstanding there on its one leg
(04:58):
going.
You can't get this piece, but Ifound out that ET was modelled
on one of these giant tortoises.
I didn out that ET was modelledon one of these giant toys.
I didn't know that.
Amanda Hill (05:09):
When I first get to the island, to Santa Cruz, is
there a soundscape that I hear?
What's the whole soundscapefeel like?
Martyn Stewart (05:18):
Ocean, a lot of ocean, a lot of ocean sounds A
lot of finches, a lot of themockingbirds in the local areas
which sing in a way, and thenseabirds as well.
I see a lot of seabirds.
Waters are unbelievable, thewaters are so clear, and yet I'm
told that if you come in oneparticular time of the year, you
(05:41):
can't see anything, which is ashame.
So if you're going to go thereI think it's between maybe
november and may or somethingyou're supposed to go there and
that becomes nice and clear, sothen you can see all the turtles
swimming around and theseamazing sea lions.
Amanda Hill (05:59):
So and it's also.
Isn't santa cruz also owned tothe dar finches?
I've got the Darwin finches,yeah.
Martyn Stewart (06:06):
And they're in flocks you see a lot of these
finches in flocks, so you get alot of flock noises.
There's a drone from Santa Cruzthat is a people drone, which,
as a recordist, it's adisappointment for me because I
just want everyone to get offthe island.
Amanda Hill (06:28):
It's the first thing I want to do, and that's
because Santa Cruz is just sopopulated.
It's so populated.
Is that what it is?
Martyn Stewart (06:33):
But when you go there you have to.
There is a deterrent in theform of people have to pay to go
on because it is a nationalpark, you know, and I think it's
about $100 or something to goon because it is a national park
, you know, and you, I thinkit's about a hundred dollars or
something to go on and somepeople, you know, get put off
for that.
But there's also so many placeswhere you can get tours and you
have to have a guide with you.
(06:55):
So I I had a guide with me andhe turned his back a few times
when I just go off the beatentrack, but I my my objective was
to go to Isabella.
Amanda Hill (07:07):
I did Isabella as much as possible.
We've left the hostel.
Okay, so we leave the hosteland bustle of Santa Cruz, where
there are other human beings,and we know that you're not
particularly a fan of humanbeings, martin, so we go to
Isabella.
How do you get to Isabella?
Didn't you get Caesar going toIsabella, isabella is horrible.
The trip to Isabella.
Martyn Stewart (07:26):
Isabella is horrible.
The trip to Isabella.
Isabella is beautiful, butIsabella to get there is
horrible.
You're in the beck and call ofthe powers that be and I'm
always one of these guys whoends up staring at someone who's
going to be sick or oh my god.
And you're on the boat, in theferry, and there's like a circle
seat from top to bottom.
(07:48):
You're facing various peopleand I'm not kidding you, the
water is so rough when you're onthe in the boat and I'm I'm the
worst.
I told you the story, I think,of the time I was in new zealand
when I had to go and record onthe South Island of Stewart
Island and, to my dismay, thecaptain told me it was a
(08:08):
four-hour trip on a boat.
He told me that.
I told him I was going to besick and he said eat oranges.
And I asked him if that workedand he said no, but they taste
the same.
Coming back up and I'm thinkingwhen I'm going to Isabella, I
wonder how long it's going to bebefore I'm sick.
We stayed on Isabella for acouple of days.
(08:28):
There's only about 1,500, 2,000people on Isabella, so it's
kind of cool and it's nice thatway, but again, you're supposed
to stay with the guide, but myobjective was to get frigate
birds and blue-fitted boobies,and when you see these
characters they're likesomething out of the circus.
(08:49):
They're just unbelievable.
Amanda Hill (08:51):
The frigate birds, so blue-fitted boobies might be.
Oh, the boobies are justspectacular.
They're my favourite.
Martyn Stewart (08:56):
And the blue is just beautiful.
And I saw the dance.
I saw the dance between maleand female and they really do
show off with each other.
You know that dance going onthe ones that were close to me I
couldn't get any vocalizationsbecause it's almost like a mime.
(09:17):
It's just incredible.
And then, a few feet away fromthem, there's a female on top of
her eggs and no wildlife runsaway.
Nothing gets scared of you, sothey've never been predated by
anything.
It's just like some kind ofheaven that you're just blessed
(09:40):
to be able to be in.
It's just incredible.
Amanda Hill (09:43):
So on, isabella, tell me what the vegetation is
like there.
Is it very different from SantaCruz?
Martyn Stewart (09:49):
Vegetation is a lot of mangrove, there's a lot
of twisting vines.
When you walk down the trails,there are thick, thick stems
that hang over the place and youget that buzz of insects and
you get birds that will come andplace, and, and you get that
buzz of insects and you, you get, you know, birds that will come
and land and vocalize and doall that kind of stuff.
(10:11):
It's um, it's a special placeand of course my mind is to go
into a place where nobody is,which I was able to do.
But the beaches were justspectacular white sand and water
as clear and that beautifultropical, green, bluey,
turquoise color.
And then you know you can sitnext to a sea lion, talk to him,
(10:34):
you know he's just sitting,he's just taking in the sunshine
and you have a couple of growlsor whatever it's.
Amanda Hill (10:42):
It's just spectacular so tell me who else
I find on the beach.
So I'm gonna find the sea lions.
The giant tortoises are also onisabella.
Did you see any of the marineiguanas?
Martyn Stewart (10:54):
loads of marine iguanas.
Okay, I dropped a hydrophone inthe water.
I didn't get much stuff, butthey go into the water and then
they're looking for sea algaeand stuff and it's almost like
this carpet just walks into theocean and starts swimming around
and then, of course, so manyturtles.
You see rays, you know, I saw abunch of rays.
(11:18):
I think that was probablycoming into Santa Cruz, but it's
almost like nature's zoo.
You know everything's there.
There's so much you've got totake in.
You're almost saying, look atthat, look at that, look at that
, look at that, look at that,look at that.
It's just, you know.
You know what I'm like.
I'm like a kid in a sweet shop.
Amanda Hill (11:39):
Do you see the Galapagos penguins on Isabella.
Martyn Stewart (11:46):
I saw the penguins on Isabella.
I saw a flamingo on Isabellatoo.
I didn't get much vocalisationfrom the flamingos.
How do the penguins hang out?
What are they like?
Tell me about them.
There's a bunch of individualsthat I'd seen.
I saw one penguin shootingaround like a dart underwater,
(12:10):
so quick and so fast and agile.
Of course, I didn't get anyvocalizations of them, which is
always to a point.
That's the reason why I'malways there, point.
That's.
That's the reason why I'malways there.
But there was um from isabella,I think.
We took a boat out to this rockarea where there was seabirds,
(12:31):
maybe something like plazaisland or something which is not
far from there.
You just go out.
Many times to my downfall is myinability to to be in a boat.
You know, most, most of mystuff is recorded on land.
I always, I always believe when, when the pope turns up to a
country and he gets off theplane and he kisses the floor,
(12:54):
he's not blessing the place he'sjust arrived in, he's just
kissing the floor and sayingthank god for terra firma, and
that's how I feel all the time.
Amanda Hill (13:02):
Who knew that you had such a fragile system,
martin oh?
Martyn Stewart (13:05):
it's terrible.
A lot of pelagic birds are outof my list.
I could, if I liked, boats alot more.
I think I'd have a lot morepelagic species.
Amanda Hill (13:16):
So what else did you see?
So talk to me about what like.
What does the morning soundlike in Isabella?
What does the evening soundlike?
What am I hearing at differentpoints in the day?
Martyn Stewart (13:27):
You have that kind of 12 hours sunshine, 12
hours darkness.
So you have these insectchoruses which are pretty
typical of Central South Americaor that equatorial zone.
And when the sun goes down,you've got these beautiful
(13:48):
choruses of cicada insects andin the morning you have that
awakening Same thing with lotsof Darwin finches and lots of
mockingbirds, tropical kingbirds.
You have birds that will flyover the top of you, some
seabirds.
It's just I'm not, you know,I'm not a birder.
Amanda Hill (14:10):
So I know you tell us that all the time, but you've
still recorded thousands ofthem I bet you, there's probably
a lot of birds.
Martyn Stewart (14:18):
I don't know what the hell they are.
You know and I've notidentified them to a point.
So while I'm on the galapagos,there's no reference point as to
what, what you're listening to.
You just say there's a birdthere.
I haven't heard that before andyou know I'm colorblind and I
can't identify what I'm lookingat we have a colorblind c6 sound
(14:38):
recordist but there's.
There was things like black,black necked stilts and
blue-footed boobies.
I had tons of recordings ofblue-footed boobies there.
There's brown pelicans, there'scactus finches, there's petrels
, there's Darwin finches.
(14:59):
Of course, there's dusky gulls.
There's flightless cormorantswhich are on one of the main
islands, llandina I think it is,but I was able to find some
flightless?
Um cormorants on isabella.
There's um galapagos duskygulls, fur seals, giant
(15:19):
tortoises.
There's galapagos hawks,there's the galapagos
mockingbird um, there's a ton ofshit like that, you know, which
I've never encountered before,which is just beautiful when you
went to the galapagos, tell mewhich of the species that you
saw that you'd never seenanywhere before.
Amanda Hill (15:36):
So the blue-footed booby is that.
Martyn Stewart (15:38):
That was the star.
That was the star, yeah, thatwas like going to Vegas and
seeing Danny LaRue or what wasthe guy with the piano, liberace
.
It's almost like going in andsomeone's standing on the stage
warming the audience up, and inon comes Liberace with his
outfit on playing the piano.
That's what the blue footedboob is like and do they have a
(15:59):
good?
Amanda Hill (16:00):
because I've only seen them dance lots, because I
seem to put them in every singlething that I do.
But what's their vocalisationlike?
Sounds like this ok, so you,you stay on Isabella, and then
eventually, I think, you alsomake it over to San Cristobal.
Martyn Stewart (16:19):
Yes, Cristobal.
Amanda Hill (16:21):
So tell me what does that island look like
Before we think about the sounds.
And then I want to know whatthe soundscape is like when I
get there.
Martyn Stewart (16:29):
Cristobal, lots of frigate birds, lots of sea
lions, lots of iguanas.
Amanda Hill (16:36):
Is it still lush vegetation or is it more
volcanic?
Martyn Stewart (16:39):
It's lush vegetation and beautiful sands
yeah, again, the ocean beinggorgeous.
And anywhere you go, your matebecomes a sea lion.
You know you can see sea lionsin bars, under staircases, under
chairs, jumping into someone'sboat and cap on, you know, and
smoke a fag and they're justadorable and they're king.
(17:04):
You know they're the king ofthe animals on the island, and
get out of the way because I'mcoming through.
They tell you that you'resupposed to stay six feet away
from all the animals, but whenyou're walking down one of the
trails, the seals and sea lionsI've encountered around the
world will take a swipe at you.
You know, the ones that I'veseen in the skeleton coast of
(17:26):
Namibia, the ones I've seen downin New Zealand, the ones I've
seen down in Patagonia, all ofthese ones.
You don't want to be six feetin front of those, but these
ones are just incredible.
But the frigatebirds were oneof the target species that I
wanted to get to thevocalizations of the males
(17:48):
they're kind of a bunch ofshow-offs.
They're showing off becausethey they have to do that thing
to get the woman.
So you know, look at me andit's it's kind of, it's kind of
romantic in.
In a lot of ways the specialone wins and gets the bird.
There are frigate bird coloniesthat you, you can see and
they're very vicious towardseach other.
(18:09):
They'll try and burst theirbags, you know.
Their vocal balloons areunderneath their chins and
they'll, they'll attack thoseand you can see some of the
frigate birds with these rips inso they can't blow them up.
But when they blow them up,have you ever sucked on one of
those helium balloons, you know?
and I was young so it's almostlike that and they have this
(18:33):
chatter and this conversationgoing on.
It's just amazing.
So I was very lucky to get, um,a lot of uh, a lot of
frigatebird vocalizations and alot of booby vocalizations, and
then to me it didn't matter whatelse I got, everything was a
bonus I still find it quitefunny that a seasick man decided
(18:55):
to go to the Galapagos, whereeverything's an island and you
have to get a boat everywhereyou go.
Amanda Hill (19:02):
Did it not temper your enthusiasm for the travel?
Martyn Stewart (19:05):
I'm always nervous about that stuff.
If there's a boat involved, I'malways nervous.
You know Roo would tell youthat.
Will you go on a cruise and gosomewhere?
No, thank you.
No, I don't want to do it.
Amanda Hill (19:18):
Tell me what's your .
I ask you this quite a lot, butif you closed your eyes and you
have to conjure up the scene soyou can hear it, I know that if
I placed you in a place, youcould hear it and tell me where
you are.
Tell me what's in your mindwhen you're, when you, when you
hear the galapagos.
You can't see anything.
You're switched off.
What are you hearing?
Martyn Stewart (19:38):
you're hearing distant sea lions.
Certain times of the daythey'll they'll be calling each
other, um, you hear seabirds.
You hear, um, the petrels whichwill be flying around the towns
.
The dawn is that kind ofchatterbox time.
(19:58):
There's a lot of bird soundsthat are calling each other, but
it doesn't have that effectlike the mainland.
It doesn't have that kind ofcacophony of sounds where, if
I'm being really honest with you, the negative part of seeing so
many people, the shock ofseeing so many people on the
(20:19):
islands, gave me a negative kindof view and it it's that thing
of me again that wants toprotect.
So I'm one of these type ofpeople that when I enjoy an
experience of nature I don'twant to share it with people
because I don't want them to goand I I want it to be a safe
haven for animals.
So when I, when I saw theGalapagos, when you go and see
(20:42):
something and it lets you down,you don't kind of tell a lot of
people how good it was, you tellon how negative it was yeah but
there was a protective naturewith me that that I think it's
one of these places where youthink here we go again.
Amanda Hill (20:57):
Man is stuffing everything off but you feel that
less when you went out, whenyou got away from santa cruz
when I was on isabella.
Martyn Stewart (21:05):
Yes, and san cristobal and san cristobal, but
especially, especially isabella.
There's so much of isabella,but especially, especially
isabella.
There's so much of isabella youcan't get to yeah you just can't
go, and I would love to be ableto go there.
I'd love to be able to one dayjust go there and be fit enough.
So because it's quite a hike, Imean, you really do have to use
(21:26):
a lot of your leg muscles toget around.
You can't get an uber or a taxi, you can't do you know whatever
.
But I used to believe that youcould only go to the galapagos
and be on there and come backagain to the mainland.
I didn't know before I went.
You know on this excursion thatthere were hotels and bars and
restaurants and all this.
(21:47):
I think what the hell?
If you were to dig up CharlesDarwin, you know, and say, look
at this, this is 2024 or 2019.
This is the Galapagos Islands,he would be horrified.
Amanda Hill (22:00):
But so help me on, because the number of places
I've been to where I've had thatsame experience.
Even when I first went toBelize Martin, when I landed in
the main city I couldn't get outfast enough, but the moment I
was out it was one of the mostbeautiful places I've been to in
the world.
We touched on that, didn't we,with belize and I feel city is
like santa cruz but I really,when I got there, wondered why I
(22:22):
was there, and the moment Ileft I couldn't get over how
beautiful it was, and so for theI really want to go to the
black and I get very nervousabout leaving it till too late,
because I do worry about thedegradation and I worry about
how protected it really is.
But what you're basicallysaying is that first experience
can be a bit of a shock, becauseyou didn't expect that first
(22:45):
experience.
Martyn Stewart (22:46):
To a lot of people.
It wouldn't be a shock To a lotof people.
They would say this iswonderful.
Amanda Hill (22:51):
No, I think it still would.
I think In my head, until Ispoke to you now, I had no idea.
I honestly thought that peopleare out in boats and they took a
limited number of people everyyear and it was really not built
up.
I mean, I have a very differentimage in my head of what I
thought.
But maybe what we're talkingabout is the further you get
into the islands, but those mainparts, our main parts, they're
(23:12):
tourist destinations now.
Martyn Stewart (23:14):
So you have to get off Santa Cruz to get out
onto the islands to reallyexperience what Galapagos is
like all my life I've seenplaces where you know, even when
I was born and I lived on acouncil estate, there was green
belt that went on for miles andmiles and the older I've got
I've seen situations like thatand seen how built up that we've
(23:35):
become.
And when you get to moderntechnology and you're able to do
an aerial view of a place overa period of 20 years, it's such
a shock yeah I mean when you seea map of the, the night sky of
the world and the amount oflights that's everywhere it's.
it's just that I, I think santacruz, where we stayed, we were
(23:56):
probably about 10, 15 minutesout of the town.
I wanted to stay local, alwaysjust stay in the local area.
I didn't want the tourism thing.
So 10, 15 minutes away youdidn't have the night booms of
music going on and I wasthinking what effect does that
have on the environment over aperiod of time?
(24:17):
The animals are not used topredation, you know, they're not
scared of anything but,suddenly they've had to adjust
to this thing, this rhythm inthe night which is foreign to
them yeah and how have that?
how's that adjusted their life?
So I, when you go to isabellaand you go, there's one
particular trail.
You go down and you come to theend and the beach.
(24:38):
It's a very long walk and whenyou look across the bay, there
are parts of Isabella that arenot accessible and I want it to
stay like that.
And if it meant that I couldn'tgo, I'm happy with that,
because if I can't go, nobodyelse can go.
So I'm thinking we could justdesignate that little bit of
land for the animals and stoppushing ourselves out and down
(25:02):
down the animals throats.
It's an experience of joy, it'san experience of sadness all in
one for me, because it's such aspecial place yeah you know you,
you only ever talked about theGalapagos as being this unique
environment, and then it'salmost like you were told a lie
yeah and I know that soundsnegative, but I'm very
(25:25):
protective of natural lands, butit's not.
Amanda Hill (25:27):
I think what you're saying is really important in
terms of more than most placesin the world.
They do an immense amount ofwork for conservation and to
protect it as a national park.
But tourism we talked aboutthis in costa rica, martin, a
couple of podcasts ago it justwe can't help ourselves but
become the invasive species.
We talk about them, protectingthem from other invasive species
(25:49):
, but the human ends up beingthe invasive species and we end
up dominating the environment,and it's always that.
And they do an incredible jobof also limiting the number of
people that are allowed to goout into the islands, and so
they're doing a really good jobof it.
But for someone like you, it'sstill in the main areas and it's
just the main areas.
(26:09):
It's still.
It's overwhelming.
It's not what you'd expect.
It's true, it's not what you'dexpect.
Let's turn to um.
If you're going to go back, Ialways ask you this I'd go back.
Martyn Stewart (26:19):
I'd like to be able to take as much ginger as
possible to stop my seasicknessand go and look at some other
different islands around hereand hire a boat, you know, and
try and get onto many of theseplaces as possible.
Just to just to record.
(26:40):
I'd like to um, I'd like toexplore Isabella more and I'd
like to go back a different timeof the year because, having
known the best time of year wasbetween November and May, I'd
like to probably go May toSeptember when nobody else is
there when there's nobody there,but but then you don't see as
(27:04):
much of the stuff in the oceanitself, which is fine with me,
because I listen, I see throughmy sound, you know if you can I
ask you a question, martin?
Amanda Hill (27:12):
so you drop the, you drop your microphone into
the ocean.
I'm beginning to you.
Know, everyone who's listeningto this thinks I should know
this about you.
Know everyone who's listeningto this thinks I should know
this about you.
But clearly your seasickness isa very dominant part of this
particular podcast.
So how does that mean thatyou're capturing sounds
underwater, because I knowyou've got lots of the ocean
sounds?
Do you stay away from theseabirds that are too far off
(27:35):
land?
What about the uh creaturesunderwater?
Rue would be listening.
Martyn Stewart (27:41):
Rue would listen to this thing we we did, um one
of the first things that we did, together with water involved,
we went to your dad's wedding onthe cayman islands and for the
wedding present we bought them adive.
Amanda Hill (27:56):
Yeah.
Martyn Stewart (27:57):
And holy shit did I suffer for that.
So Rue is a professional diver,she has a PADI certificate and
all that, and she was able totake me on a resort dive.
We went out and stuffed my luck, the boat that we went out on.
They were looking for a diverthat had been lost and obviously
(28:18):
died.
And this was in my head andthey're telling me what I'm
supposed to do when I get in thewater and how I should breathe
and how I should wet my mask andI should do this.
But I went into the water, theytook me real, took me down how
many feet, god knows how manymeters or whatever, and I was
absolutely ill and I was tryingto get to the top to be sick and
(28:42):
as soon as I was sick, allthese fish came in, ate
everything that I bellowed upand I told her I can't do boats,
I just can't do boats.
So if I get on a boat to do ahydrophone thing, I've got to go
out, I've got to stop the boat,I've got to drop it as quick as
possible, record as quickly asI can and get the hell back to
(29:05):
shore.
It's just that way.
I just can't help it.
You know, the beach, across theroad, we have turtles laying
their eggs between May andSeptember and it's just an
incredible experience.
You see Same turtles which aredown in the Galapagos.
We've got loggerheads and greenturtles and leatherbacks and
(29:29):
Ridley's turtles.
I took my canoe I own a canoeright.
Amanda Hill (29:34):
I own a bloody canoe, just staggering,
staggering.
Martyn Stewart (29:37):
And I was talking to the um, the
university of florida, whoregulate and and document all
the turtle nests that come inevery day, and they told me that
green turtles don't vocalize.
And I said I'm sure they do andthey said no, there was no
recollection of anyvocalizations.
So I got my canoe, carried itacross the road, took my
(30:02):
recorder and hydrophone, gotonto the boat, got past the
riptide, went out into the ocean, dropped the hydrophone into
the water.
I could hear these pulses goingon and the closer I got to
these green turtles they werevocalizing.
So I got it, got ashore, spewedup, took, took the recording to
the university of florida andsaid there's a green turtle what
(30:24):
did they say?
Amanda Hill (30:24):
it's the one.
I'm very proud of you for yourstubbornness it was unbelievable
.
Martyn Stewart (30:28):
They couldn't believe it that's amazing they
couldn't believe it.
They said it are you sure it'ssomething, not something else?
And I said no, it's definitelythese green turtles, as they
were mating on top of each otherand it's that.
So I don't know what's going onin the ocean.
You know, you can't see.
(30:48):
It's like recording bats atnight.
Amanda Hill (30:51):
Especially if you won't go under it, martin, I
won't go under.
Martyn Stewart (30:56):
That's called drowning, Mandy.
Amanda Hill (30:59):
So we will on the next podcast.
We have to pick a place that isparticularly a dry land place,
I think, and not surrounded bywater is the biggest.
Martyn Stewart (31:07):
Yeah, let's do terra firma.
Amanda Hill (31:12):
Yeah, I think we'll close it there.
Martyn Stewart (31:16):
You've just experienced another journey on
the listening planet podcast.
Dive deeper into the world ofnatural sounds by connecting
with us online.
Visit our website or follow uson social media.
Let the symphony of naturesurround you wherever you go.
Happy listening.
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