VIDEO: Going Underwater in the Galapagos

(For the best quality, click play, the gear symbol, then 1080p HD.)

I recently made my way down to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador with my grandfather. The islands are perhaps most known for their endemic land dwellers, but the coral reefs there are also hot beds for many rare and unique aquatic species. Those featured in the video, in order and with their IUCN status included, are:

1. Galapagos green turtle (Endangered)
2. White tip reef shark (Near Threatened)
3. Flightless cormorant (Vulnerable)
4. Galapagos sea lion (Endangered)
5. Diamond stingray (no classification)
6. Spotted eagle ray (Near Threatened)
7. Galapagos reef octopus (no classification)
8. Burrito grunt (Least Concern)
9. Galapagos garden eel (Least Concern)
10. Barberfish (Least Concern)
11. Guineafowl puffer (no classification)
12. Long-spine porcupinefish (no classification)
13. Spotted porcupinefish (no classification)
14. Pacific beakfish (no classification)
15. Harlequin wrasse (Least Concern)
16. Razor Sugeonfish (Least Concern)
17. King angelfish (Least Concern)
18. Streamer hogfish (Least Concern)
19. Blunthead triggerfish (Least Concern)
20. Black-striped salema (Vulnerable)