Who is it in the picture?
It is a marine iguana.

Male or female?
Female marine iguana

What is she doing in the hole?
She is nesting, digging in the sand to lay an average of ten eggs.

Where is she from?
She is from Fernandina Island, the westernmost island in the Galapagos.

How long is the incubation period?
It is about three months. The eggs stay two to three feet underground.
Females don't take any care of either the eggs or the hatchlings.

So…has the marine iguana-nesting season begun on Fernandina Island?
Yes, indeed it has begun. This is the very first week iguanas are found
nesting everywhere on Fernandina!

The water temperature today was 74 F. Getting warmer!