A Galapagos penguin - Spheniscus mendiculus. The Galapagos penguin is the smallest of the penguin family.


Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) is a penguin endemic to the Gal??pagos Islands. It is the only penguin to live on the equator and can survive due to the cool temperatures resulting from the Humboldt Current and cool waters from great depths brought up by the Cromwell Current. Its nearest relatives are the African Penguin, the Magellanic Penguin and the Humboldt Penguin. The Gal??pagos Penguin occurs primarily on Fernandina Island and the west coast of Isabela Island, but small populations are scattered on other islands in the Gal??pagos archipelago.

Image ID: mvey0663, Small World Collection
Location: Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Photographer: Rosalind Cohen, NODC, NOAA

Source:
The NOAA Photo Library http://www.photolib.noaa.gov
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) http://www.noaa.gov/