Humans can get within inches of Galapagos wildlife without the subject turning a feather. One crowd-pleaser is the blue-footed booby, impossible to miss with those brilliant blue appendages, but Cheeseman also showed how beautifully they fold themselves in for their knife-like dive into the water.

They are incredible divers and the Spanish word for them translates to lance, or arrow--which is exactly what they look like, tucked in for the sheer vertical plunge. Frigate birds are the best flyers, the "biology nerd" said, what with having more weight in their wide wing expansion than in all the bones in their body.

Frigates puff up their red chests during courtship so they look as though they're hiding behind a frigate-sized valentine. The albatross is the most charismatic of birds, he declared, and it builds nests on only one island in the world--the Galapagos.

The hunt for fur seals was what originally brought humans to the islands--in the early 19th century. Long before that, birds carrying seeds and amphibians hosting life forms on their skin or in their stomachs were responsible for the original plants and animals that eventually sprouted on the inhospitable volcanic site.

The fishing industry accounts for $9 million of the island's economy; tourism brings in $150 million. Yet, maintaining safeguards to protect the natural environment is continually being undermined. A corrupt Ecuadorian government and the political clout of the fishing industry are major adversaries.

El Niño and global warming wreck havoc as well. Ninety percent of the penguin population was wiped out as a result of the last El Niño. So rich is the marine environment that there are 500 species. The water is cold, fed by a current from the Antarctic, even though the islands are at the equator.

Cheeseman earned a degree in conservation biology from Duke University. And his career choice is quite a natural evolution, since he is the son of wildlife safari leaders Gail and Doug Cheeseman of Saratoga. The family's company is Cheeseman's Ecology Safaris at www.cheesemans.com.

Father Doug started the biology department at De Anza College, retired after 21 years in '98 to devote himself to safari tours. When introduced from the audience he laughingly said his brain cells were deteriorating and he deferred to his son. In refutation, he and Gail took off for their 45th safari to Africa that afternoon.

PROMOTION: Saratogan David Hurwitz has been named chief marketing officer of Niku, a software company based in Redwood City. He was formerly vice president of marketing. "David pretty much invented marketing at Niku, and has played a huge role in our success," said Niku CEO Josh Pickus.

Niku had a 137 percent jump in its stock price over the past year, putting it among the top five Silicon Valley companies. Niku provides information technology.

ART WALL: The art of Bonnie Stone and Siok Huang Tay is on display at the Saratoga Library Art Wall. Stone creates detailed watercolors that display Oriental influences. She began painting at age 7 and even then was interested in Japanese art forms.

She uses flat pattern, color and space. A regular award winner, she has had solo exhibitions and illustrated a book. Tay's medium is Chinese paper cutting. Using silk cloth paper, an Exacto knife, designs and a cutting pad she creates complicated, detailed works.

T FOR T TOTALS: The Toys for Tots and Operation: One Warm Coat campaigns collected nearly 7,000 toys and 2,500 coats from Coldwell Banker offices in northern California before Christmas. The drive is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Marines and Emergency Housing Consortium.

The firm has been an official collection center for Toys for Tots for 18 years. Office gift exchanges were replaced with gifts to Toys for Tots and clients pitched in to stuff Santa's sack, too.

BASEBALL AS UNIFIER: Steven Hayes Young will share the story behind Sandlot Stories, his baseball story collection, on Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., in the Saratoga Library. Young's thesis is that baseball can be a unifying force between cultures. Books are for sale in Japanese and English.

SPELL CHECK: Bright-eyed reader Brian Berg points out that Frankfurt, as in Germany, should be spelled with a "u" (not an "o") in the article about "Lo" Sevastopoulos being feted as the 50 millionth customer of the year at its airport.

Having once spent 10 hours straight at the Frankfurt Airport because of repeated delays, I assumed the correct spelling would be forever embedded in my consciousness, but no. I was there so long I read The Thorn Birds in its entirety.

Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.