Meet Miti and Flecha

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Meet Miti

While on a guiding trip in Tagus Cove in the Galapagos Islands, Aura Banda spotted a juvenile penguin with a scar across its belly. The distinctive scar allowed Aura to follow the penguin and assess if he could be consistently identified by the spotting pattern on his chest and belly. Because the young penguin looked like he had been cut in half, Aura began calling him Miti; “mitad” means half in Spanish.
With the help of other observers and his characteristic scar, Aura obtained five photos of Miti over eight months. From one of those images, Aura made a transparent layer of Miti’s spots on Photoshop, and with minor adjustments, overlapped the transparent layer on the other two photos of the penguin and the spots matched up perfectly.
Using the many photos of Galapagos penguins Aura has in her files, she started applying this methodology to other penguins. This experience has reinforced the importance of citizen science. Naturalists and visitors are in a unique position while they explore the islands and have the opportunity to contribute to the Center’s long-term dataset of Galápagos penguin through photography.

Meet Flecha

Flecha lives in the Galapagos on Santiago Island in front of the islet, Chinese Hat, where Aura Banda works as a Galápagos Islands guide. Aura has been using photographs to follow Flecha by identifying the bird with its unique chest spotting that looks like an arrow. Over a year, the photos recorded the life history of Flecha including molting, body condition, and her gender.