The Sphinx of Tabaibas (Hyles euphorbiae tithymali) belongs to the nocturnal lepidoptera (moth) endemic to the Canary Islands. It represents one of the 1,200 families that make up the order of the Sphingidae, and within the wildlife of Fuerteventura, despite not being one of its most extended inhabitants, its showy colourful body draws attention.

The name Sphinx of Tabaibas comes because their caterpillar lives precisely on these plants, both sweet Tabaiba (Euphorbia regis-jubae), and bitter Tabaiba (Euphorbia obtusifolia), which also serve as food for this herbivorous species that certainly prefers the tender tips and flowers, which they can devour in a few seconds.

Tabaibas venom is completely harmless to the caterpillar; on the contrary, it serves as biological ally, and it accumulates this venom in its body and keeps it even when the caterpillar becomes a moth, creating an unpleasant bitter taste in its predators, which will not try it in their life their again. Besides, they are able to regurgitate this poison, fluorescent green, when they feel attacked.

As a defence against its predators, mostly birds, it also has some spectacular electric colours throughout its entire body, with green, yellow and blue stripes, some black patterns shaped as eyes and a red spot on its head (the red, yellow and black are usually warning colours in nature). These colours that serve as defence, also turn it into one of the most showy species in the island, providing it an exotic attraction.

They are most commonly found from June to September, and a place where it’s most awesome to find it is in the Natural Park of the Dunes in Corralejo, where it leaves small marks on the golden sand, when moving between Tabaibas (simulating traces of tiny bikes ).

The adults of this species of fauna in Fuerteventura have nocturnal and crepuscular habits, hence it’s not easily to meet them, but sometimes they can be seen in daylight, especially those younger individuals.

They may be found in spring, making up showy groups on the leaves of the plants that will host them.

The size of the adult caterpillar can reach up to 15cm and, when it has run its course, it goes down from the Tabaibas and buries itself in the sand to start the chrysalis stage and become a pupa, which in turn will become a moth, not as beautiful and showy as the caterpillar, but large, with a wingspan of between 5’4 and 7 cms, which tuns it into one of the species of moths which best fly. Their wings move so fast that its fluttering produces a whistle like the one produced by the drone.

The colour ceases to be attractive to become a dark brown with some white patterns, although there are some species whose moth is black.

It features the longest proboscis of all moths; It is the organ that serves it as a drinking straw to suck nectar from tubular flowers. When it is not used, it’s rolled up under its head.

At the end of its life, the female moth lays about 8-10 greenish eggs, each of them becoming a showy caterpillar later on, thus starting the cycle of the species again.

If you  happen to find any of these caterpillars on your way, don’t be afraid of them, but don’t bother them either  if you do not want them to spit on you the Tabaibas’ venom. Just watch the wonder of nature, which is able to create such wonderful specimens.

 FuerteCharter Team

We keep discovering Fuerteventura’s wildlife and Lobos Islet and although it seems that everything is about marine species and birds, we cannot forget an exceptional inhabitant of this paradise, a true symbol for these islands, The “Majorero” wall gecko (Tarentola angustimentalis). Perhaps those of you who do not inhabit these idyllic lands have not seen one yet, but for sure they known it though  countless souvenirs that can be found in the island’s shops. It is a very abundant and well known animal, in fact the residents in the North of Fuerteventura usually feel proud to have one of these companions on the walls of our homes. In our boat trips from Corralejo, when we take our travellers to know the wonderful Lobos Islet in our Water Taxi, you will have the chance to to watch them: you just have to pay a little attention to the rocks in the sandy areas, where they are usually sunbathing in the mornings.

Let’s learn a little more about this species, endemic to Fuerteventura and Lobos Islet. The “Majorero” wall gecko, or common gecko, is a reptile lizard from the geckos family, which is named after the roughness, flaking or bumps on the dorsal areas of its body.  6 species inhabit The Canary Islands, 4 of which are endemic:  Tarentola delalandii (Common “Majorero” wall gecko), Tarentola gomerensis, Tarentola Boettgeri (with two subspecies, one of them endemic to El Hierro) and Tarentola angustimentalis, in addition to the foreign Tarentola mauritanica (common gecko) and the  Hemidactylus turcius (Pink gecko).

The “Majorero” wall gecko (Tarentola angustimentalis ) is a species found in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Lobos, La Graciosa, Montaña Clara, Alegranza, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. For a time it was called  Tarentola mauritanica angustimentalis  as a subspecies of the Tarentola mauritanica, but now it’s considered a different species in itself, Tarentola Angustimentalis.

They can live on the coast and on the summits, being more abundant in thermophilic and tabaibal-cardonal, sandy  and old “malpaís” areas, as well as on human constructions; it usually lives under rocks or rocky places. As far as its social behaviour is concerned, they are nocturnal, although they love sunbathing in the mornings; it is known that acoustic communication plays an important role for them.

They feed on insects, arthropods are their favourite, but as a curiosity, they sometimes eat their own molt.
They are, at first sight, very funny; males are an average of 7.5 cm and females, 6.5 cm. Their body is robust and crushed. As most geckos, their skin is covered with bumps, except in the centre of their back, where they have a protruding bone. Their colour is light grey with a clear longitudinal line and five transversal dark bands. Their eyes, as you can see in the photos, are very prominent, golden or brown colour. It’s their eyes and hands, crushed but sturdy, which make them so funny.

Not much is known about their breeding habits: they lay about 1-2 eggs and apparently they have two clutches per year. The sex of the embryo depends on the incubation temperature: under 27º and 30 º they will be female, while under  26.5 ° C and  22,4ºC they will be male.

And though they are tiny they have a life expectancy of about 17 years.

This insect predator is endemic to the eastern Canary Islands and, usually,  an abundant species, not threatened by human impact; until now no factors that may affect them severely have been detected, so we will have “majorero” geckos for a long time.

Let’s say that in our trips to Lobos Islet from Corralejo, on our Catamaran, this will not be the animal you will see most if you don’t pay attention, but we could not help giving it the prominence it deserves as it is a symbol which has become a souvenir for those who choose this paradise as a holiday destination. Still we hope that when you come to Lobos Islet you won’t forget that this is their home and, like us, they love to enjoy the sunshine on the beautiful sunny mornings which cheer up this area of “La Macaronesia”.

FuerteCharter Team


We continue writing about Lobos Islet, since we love to present the wonders of the Canary archipelago, especially this islet where we go regularly on our trips from Corralejo.

This time we will dedicate the article to talk about a very characteristic species of flora in this islet. 
Out of over 130 plant species living in this islet nowadays,  we will talk about the sweet spurge (Euphorbia balsamifera),  very characteristic of the Canary Islands and a symbol, particularly in the island of Lanzarote, which stands out in the islet with magnificent specimens. Remember that the jewel of the flora in Lobos is The Evergreen,  endemic to this island,  of which we have already discussed in another article that we recommend.

Spurge

In the Canary Islands we call Spurge to a large group of plants of the Euphorbia family. Here in Fuerteventura, we enjoy the existence of  two species of spurge, sweet Spurge (Euphorbia balsamifera) and sour Spurge (Euphorbia regis-jubae).
In the Islet of Lobos it’s the sweet spurge which reaches a surprising size becoming very representative of the islet and being highly appreciated by visitors who accompany us on our trips from Corralejo.
It is endemic to the Canary Islands and North Africa. Especially we see it in the lower and drier areas of the islands.

Description

It is a rounded shrub that can grow up to 2 meters; with grey stems highly branched from the base and rugged, as they are exposed to the wind.
It is a  “succulent” plant because its stem and root allow storage of water in much higher amounts than the rest of the plants, keeping their water for long periods, which allows them to survive in dry and arid environments.
It has rounded shape with branches that have small green leaves which they lose in dry periods but which recover when the rains start again; This is a mechanism that prevents water loss during periods of harsh sun.

It is just at this time of the year -autumn and winter, especially in days like the last ones, when the rain has cheered our island up, that we can enjoy their flowers. Small yellow flowers that form a unique reddish fruit which looks like knitted (tripartite structure).

Curiosities

In the chronicles of the ancient conquerors  they spoke about the milk from these plants found in Fuerteventura “… trees that exude a medicinal milk …” and which has been employed for many uses throughout history. uses:
As traditional fishing method (embroscar) that involves spilling the “cerote” (juice of the plant) into natural pools which can be seen during the low tide,  and where fish were trapped; This juice has poisonous properties that lulled the fish and made it easier to catch them with shovels.
-The Milky sap of the branches coagulates on contact with air to forms a kind of gum, and it’s said to have a nice flavour. This paste could be chewed to strengthen the gums; it was also used to wean kids, by sticking it to the udders of the goats; other uses, in times of extreme scarcity, could be as glue traps for birds.
Among its medicinal uses, it treated colds in the shape of poultices; pricks of thorns,  warts or wounds, by applying it straight on the skin.


All these uses,  together with the appearance of lime kilns in Fuerteventura,  made this sap become more scarce, since it was also used as fuel.
Currently the population of this plant is abundant and these days we can enjoy its green leaves, which have sprouted with the first rains. We invite you to come to Lobos in one of our trips from Corralejo to enjoy the magnitude of these plants, loved by the ancients for their properties  and characteristics of the Canary Islands and specifically of this islet that we love so much.

FuerteCharter Team

Para nosotros, que acudimos diariamente en nuestras excursiones desde Corralejo a la Isla de Lobos, este islote sigue siendo un paraíso, casi virgen, donde la naturaleza y el mar son los protagonistas. Pues no somos los únicos seres que ven en este islote un lugar ideal, hay más visitante, excepcionales, que año tras año acuden a este lugar a pasar el invierno. Estamos hablando de aves migratorias que pasan en Fuerteventura, e Isla de Lobos, la época invernal, suponemos que como nosotros, buscando calor, tranquilidad y buenos alimentos.

 

En esta ocasión vamos a centrarnos en las Garzas, Garcetas y Zarapitos; 3 aves muy habituales en Fuerteventura en estos meses de otoño que ya anuncian la llegada del invierno, vienen del norte, donde crían en la época de verano, huyendo del frío y buscando zonas costeras, humedales, alimento y algo de calor para volver a emprender el vuelo una vez el invierno toca a su fin.

La Garceta común

Desde nuestro barco cuando hacemos la excursión a Lobos y fondeamos cerca de las zonas del islote más vírgenes podemos llegar a ver Garcetas comunes (Egrett Garcetta), personalmente me parecen aves súper curiosas. La garceta común es la más pequeña entre las garcetas, unos 60cm de longitud (envergadura alar:1m.). Para reconocerla, si hay dudas, solo hay que mirar sus patas negras, muy finas, con los dedos de color amarillo, pico recto y puntiagudo negro. Totalmente de plumaje blanco y un cuello largo pero dobladizo. El adulto en época nupcial tiene plumas ornamentales alargadas en el pecho y en el dorso, así como una cresta formada por dos plumas blancas.

Es muy fácil verlas pues no son tan asustadizas como otras aves, por el contrario suelen estar cerca de zonas habitadas por el hombre. En Fuerteventura los surferos las ven habitualmente, también en Lobos en las zonas donde ha habido pesca aprovechando los restos de la misma para darse el banquete. Su alimentación se basa en anfibios, insectos, invertebrados marinos, peces pequeños.
Habita en costas, embalses, charcas y cursos de agua y hacen sus nidos sobre árboles, cañaverales, riscos o suelo, en forma de plataforma. En febrero-marzo es la época de cría, una sola puesta al año y tienen entre 3 y 6 huevos que incuban durante 21 días; una vez eclosionan los polluelos son alimentados por ambos padres otros 21 días, y a los 35 abandonan el nido.
Son muy habituales en la época invernal en el archipiélago canario, aves migratorias que están de paso durante el invierno. No es el islote de Lobos su lugar favorito dentro de las islas macaronésicas pero es habitual, cada vez más, verlas en la costa o en la charca. Muchos han sido los afortunados que las han visto volando hacia Lobos, o a la inversa, durante nuestras excursiones desde Corralejo.

La Garza Real

Muy habituales en Fuerteventura durante el invierno, sobre todo en charcas naturales, tanto de agua dulce como de Costa, vistas a menudo en la charca que se forma bajo el faro de isla de Lobos. Es una ave zancuda de gran tamaño, que habita en Europa y nos visita en invierno; últimamente es más frecuente verlas durante todo el año, por lo que se piensa que probablemente alguna pareja ya haya nidificado aquí y como muchos, elegido Fuerteventura como su vivienda principal; aunque en realidad los científicos no la consideran ave nidificante en Canarias, sino migratorio.
Su longitud es de unos 90cm. con una envergadura alar de 1.70cm, un peso de 2kg. Característico es su plumaje gris con lasartes inferiores más blanquecinas. Tras la nuca, y hasta los ojos, tiene una especie de cresta azul muy oscuro, medio caida y formada por dos plumas muy largas. Pico marrón amarillento aclarando en la mandíbula inferior.

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Muchos viajeros en nuestras excursiones se han sorpendido al verlas sobrepasarnos con un vuelo tan característico e inconfundible, ya que son de gran tamaño con el cuello doblado en curva, larguísimas patas (marrones), con un vuelo tranquilo; además cuando vuelan graznan, ronca y ásperamente.
En nuestras isla tienen alimento de sobra ya que su dieta favorita son peces y crustáceos pequeños, insectos,… también puede cazar ratones e incluso reptiles.

Zarapito Trinador

Muy pero que muy habitual en todo el archipiélago. Su paso, tanto por península como por Canarias, es entre Julio y Septiembre hasta marzo, que vuelve al norte de Europa a criar. En su época migratoria (invernada) se comporta como un ave costera, no lo hace así en su época de cría en lugares más fríos.

La puesta empieza en mayo hasta junio, 3 o 4 huevos moteados de color pardo. Incuban 27 o 28 días y los pollos, precoces como los de todas las limícolas, se desarrollan en unos 35-40 días.
Mide unos 40cm, su peso oscila entre los 200 y 400gr. Son características sus patas, zancudas, y su puntiagudo pico curvado. La vemos habitualmente desde finales del verano tanto sola como en grupo, en las playas de Fuertevetura y de Lobos y en las zonas rocosas del litoral. Su alimentación es tanto de invertebrados como de materia vegetal, en diferente cuantía según la estación y los hábitats que ocupe.
Este es otro habitual en nuestras excursiones desde Corralejo.

Aquí dejamos esta pequeña guía de tres de las aves migratorias que, huyendo del frio, eligen, como nosotros, estas tierras paradisíacas para pasar unos meses. Tenemos que apuntar la importancia de Fuerteventura en lo que a aves se refiere, importancia que empiezó a conocerse en los últimos años, ya somos destino turístico para muchos amantes de la observación de aves. Es, además, uno de los motivos que llevó a la protección de Isla de Lobos.

Equipo FuerteCharter

A blue whale, the biggest animal in the world, can be spotted very near the area where we make our boat trips from Corralejo.
Some time ago, the Strait of “La Bocaina” which separates Fuerteventura and Lanzarote a blue whale was seen, by a group of investigators. This sighting took place during the campaign for the project development  “Canarias con la Mar”, funded by “Fundación Biodiversidad”, the ministry of Environment (MAGRAMA), the Canary Island Government and Fuerteventura Council.

This cetacean (in latin, Balaenopteridaees) is one of the biggest animals in the world (the biggest dinosaur ever known was smaller that this whale). They can be up to 31m long and weigh a bit over 150 tons. The specimens in the southern hemisphere are usually bigger that those in the northern one. Female specimens (so as to give birth to their huge calves)are usually bigger than male ones too (maximum 24m long and 80 tons). They can reach a depth of 500m. Their usual speed is 22km/h, although they can even reach the 50km/h if they feel threatened, and they can also lower their speed up to 6.5 km/h when they forage for food.

With a long body and a wide head, this impressive whale has no teeth, but beard (around 300-400 formations on each side of their jaws, looking like toothbrushes, ideal to catch little preys (up to 1m long).
They can be submerged for 10-20 minutes, needing to go to the surface and breath after this time, bursting the typical jet of water of this species, which can reach the 6-12 ms high, imagine how big they are!
Surprisingly, these huge animals feed on small crustaceans; krills are they favourite food. Every specimen can eat up to 40 million of these crustaceans during their feeding stage, and they need up to 1.5 million calories a day to keep active.
The northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans hold the biggest populations of these cetaceans. They are a really damaged species due to the whales hunting, and in many areas they have not recovered yet. Just one out of the four different species of blue whales in the world inhabits the northern Atlantic, which is why the fact of having caught sight of one of them in our waters is a true privilege. We are looking forward to finding this blue whale in our boat trips from Corralejo.
As far as their behaviour is concerned, blue whales have been seen alone, in couple or in small groups, no bigger than 7 specimens. When the food is abundant and on very few occasions, 60 of these animals have been seen together. They usually forage 100ms deep during the day, and they only go up to the surface at night. They feed through a filtering system: they open their mouth swallowing a large amount of water and krill. Then they close their jaws and push the water back outside through their beards, their preys being trapped there; with this system they also consume little fish, crustaceans and the squids which swim among the krill.
As for their breeding, their gestation period lasts around one year, and they reach their sexual maturity at the age of 10. They give birth to a single whale calf every 3 years. Whale calves are born in winter, in warm waters, and they are able to migrate thousands of kilometres until they reach polar waters to forage the next summer. Whale calves are usually 7mts long and weigh up to 3 tons; for 8 months they are breastfed, almost 400 litres of milk a day, and they grow up to 90kg a day, so when they get to their weaning process the calves have probably doubled their size already.
They have a long life expectancy, 90 years on average, although they can live up to 110 years.
These huge mammals make a deep vibrating sound that can be heard hundreds of kilometres away under the water. Little is known about the reason why they make this kind of sound, but these blue whales can make calls lasting between 10 and 30 seconds.
The blue whale is an endangered species for several reasons: many specimens die because they are hurt by big ships or because they are trapped in fishing nets. Of course, the global heating also affects the species they feed on. Nowadays whale hunting is punished in every continent, although illegal hunting still exists. It’s important to protect the areas of concentration of this species and their migratory corridors. Their presence in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote reminds us how important this area is.
We are looking forward to watching this blue whale, who has been named Esperanza, more closely in our boat trips from Corralejo. We’ll keep you informed.

 FuerteCharter’s team.  

Características de la ballena azul

Este cetáceo de la familia de los Rorcuales azules (en latín: Balaenopteridaees) es uno de los animales más grandes de la tierra (el dinosaurio más grande conocido es más pequeño que estas ballenas). Llegan a medir  31m de longitud y pesan poco más de 150 toneladas. Los ejemplares que habitan el hemisferio sur son generalmente de mayor tamaño que las del hemisferio norte; suelen ser más grandes las hembras (para poder parir sus enormes crías) que los machos (un máximo de 24m y 80 toneladas). Pueden llegar a profundidades de 500 metros. Normalmente se desplazan a 22 km/h, aunque si perciben alguna amenaza pueden alcanzar hasta 50 km/h, llegando a bajar esa velocidad hasta los 6.5 km/h cuando se alimentan.

De cuerpo alargado y cabeza ancha, este impresionante rorcual no tiene dientes, sino barbas, unos 300-400 formaciones en cada lado de su mandíbula, parecidas a las cerdas de un cepillo, ideales para capturar presas pequeñas y que pueden medir hasta 1 metro.

Puede permanecer bajo el agua por periodos de 10 a 20 minutos, saliendo a respirar después de este tiempo a la superficie, lanzando el chorro característico de esta especie, que puede llegar a alturas de 6 a 12 metros, ¡imagínense las dimensiones!

Alimentación de la ballena azul

Sorprendentemente la alimentación de estos impresionantes animales se basa en crustáceos muy pequeños; el krill es su sustento favorito. Cada individuo puede comer hasta 40 millones de estos crustáceos diarios en su época de alimentación, y necesitan alrededor de 1.5 millones de calorías al día para mantenerse activos.

Los océanos Pacífico Norte y Antártico Norte, albergan las poblaciones más grandes de estos cetáceos. Se trata de una especie muy dañada por la caza de ballenas y en muchas zonas aún no se ha recuperado. De las 4 subespecies de estos rorcuales azules que hay en el mundo, solo una habita en el Atlántico Norte, y se estima que no hay más de 400 individuos en nuestra zona del Atlántico, con lo que haber avistado una en nuestras aguas es todo un privilegio. Estamos deseando encontrarnos con esta ballena azul en nuestras excursiones en barco desde Corralejo.

Comportamiento de la ballena azul

En cuanto a su comportamiento se han avistado ballenas azules en solitario, en pareja o en grupos pequeños de no más de 7 individuos. Cuando hay gran cantidad de alimento, y en situaciones contadas, se han llegado a ver hasta 60 de estos animales juntos. Generalmente se alimentan a más de 100 m de profundidad durante el día y solo en la noche en la superficie. Su alimentación es por un sistema de filtrado: abre su boca introduciendo gran cantidad de agua y de krill, entonces cierra sus mandíbulas y empuja el agua de vuelta hacia fuera a través de sus barbas, quedando sus presas atrapadas; con este sistema accidentalmente consume también pequeños peces, crustáceos y calamares que nadan entre el krill.

Reproducción y crías de la ballena azul

En cuanto a su reproducción, su periodo de gestación dura alrededor de un año, y su madurez sexual llega aproximadamente a sus 10 años. Dan a luz una sola cría cada 3 años. Los ballenatos nacen en invierno en aguas cálidas con la capacidad de realizar una migración de miles de kilómetros hasta aguas polares donde alimentarse el siguiente verano. Las crías, al nacer, miden unos 7 metros de longitud y pesan hasta tres toneladas; durante 8 meses se alimentan de leche materna, casi 400 litros al día, creciendo diariamente hasta 90 kg más, con lo que cuando les llega el destete probablemente la cría ya ha doblado su tamaño.

Tienen una larga esperanza de vida, una media de 90 años, aunque pueden vivir incluso hasta los 110 años.

El Canto de la balleza azul

Estos grandes animales emiten un sonido profundo y resonante que se puede captar a cientos de kilómetros bajo las aguas. No se sabe mucho sobre los motivos que les llevan a producir estos cantos, pero todos los grupos de rorcuales azules emiten llamadas de al menos entre 10 y 30 segundos de duración.

La ballena azul es una especie en peligro de extinción por varios motivos, muchos ejemplares mueren por heridas realizadas por grandes buques o por quedar atrapados en redes de pesca. Por supuesto, el calentamiento global afecta a las especies de las que se alimenta. Actualmente la caza de ballenas está penada en cualquier continente, aunque sigue habiendo caza ilegal. Es importante proteger las zonas de concentración de la especie y sus corredores migratorios. Su presencia en la zona de Fuerteventura y Lanzarote nos vuelve a recordar la importancia de esta zona.

Deseando estamos ver más de cerca a esta ballena azul, a la que se ha llamado Esperanza, en nuestras excursiones desde Corralejo. Les mantendremos informados.

Equipo de FuerteCharter