Galápagos Islands
UTC-6 ) | |
South America | |
---|---|
Extension | 2001 and 2003 |
Endangered | 2007–2010 |
The Galápagos Islands (
Thus far, there is no firm evidence that
Names
The Galápagos or Galapagos Islands are named for
The islands were also previously known as the Enchanted Isles or Islands (Islas Encantadas) from sailors' difficulty with the winds and currents around them;
The islands were mapped by the
Geology
The Galápagos Archipelago is characterized by numerous contemporaneous volcanoes, some with plume magma sources, others from the
The volcanoes at the west end of the archipelago are in general, taller, younger, have well developed calderas, and are mostly composed of
Physical geography
The islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 973 km (605 mi) off the west coast of South America. The majority of islands are also more broadly part of the South Pacific.[15] The closest land mass is that of mainland Ecuador, the country to which they belong, 926 km (500 nmi) to the east.
The islands are found at the coordinates 1°40'N–1°36'S, 89°16'–92°01'W. Straddling the equator, islands in the chain are located in both the northern and southern hemispheres, with
The group consists of 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. The islands are located at the Galapagos Triple Junction. The archipelago is located on the Nazca Plate (a tectonic plate), which is moving east/southeast, diving under the South American Plate at a rate of about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) per year.[18] It is also atop the Galápagos hotspot, a place where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, creating volcanoes. The first islands formed here at least 8 million and possibly up to 90 million years ago.[19]
While the older islands have disappeared below the sea as they moved away from the mantle plume, the youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed. In April 2009, lava from the volcanic island Fernandina started flowing both towards the island's shoreline and into the center caldera.[citation needed]
In late June 2018, Sierra Negra, one of five volcanoes on Isabela and one of the most active in the Galapagos archipelago, began erupting for the first time since 2005. Lava flows made their way to the coastline, prompting the evacuation of about fifty nearby residents and restricting tourist access.[20]
Main islands
The 18[21] main islands (each having a land area at least 1 km2) of the archipelago (with their English names) shown alphabetically:
- land iguanas to the neighboring North Seymour Island as part of an experiment. This move proved unexpectedly useful when the native iguanas became extinct on Baltra as a result of the island's military occupation in World War II. During the 1980s, iguanas from North Seymour were brought to the Charles Darwin Research Stationas part of a breeding and repopulation project, and in the 1990s, land iguanas were reintroduced to Baltra. As of 1997, scientists counted 97 iguanas living on Baltra; 13 of which had hatched on the islands.
- green turtleis another animal that resides on the island.
- marine iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls, sea lions, whales, marine turtles, and red-footed and Nazca boobies can be seen. The remnants of Darwin's Arch, a natural rock arch which would at one time have been part of this larger structure, are located less than a kilometre from the main Darwin Island, and it was a landmark well known to the island's few visitors. It collapsed in May 2021. The two remaining stumps are now nicknamed the "Pillars of Evolution".[23]
- marine iguanas exhibit a distinctive red coloration change between the breeding season. Española is the only place where the waved albatross nests. Some of the birds have attempted to breed on Genovesa (Tower) Island, but unsuccessfully. Española's steep cliffs serve as the perfect runways for these birds, which take off for their ocean feeding grounds near the mainland of Ecuador and Peru. Española has two visitor sites. Gardner Bay is a swimming and snorkelling site, and offers a great beach. Punta Suarez has migrant, resident, and endemic wildlife, including brightly colored marine iguanas, Española lava lizards, hood mockingbirds, swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, red-billed tropicbirds, Galápagos hawks, three species of Darwin's finches, and the waved albatross.
- Galápagos penguins, pelicans, Galápagos sea lions and Galápagos fur seals. Different types of lava flows can be compared, and the mangroveforests can be observed.
- wooden barrel that served as a post office, mail could be picked up and delivered to its destinations, mainly Europe and the United States, by ships on their way home. At the "Devil's Crown", an underwater volcanic cone and coralformations are found.
- doves, storm petrels and Darwin finches are also in sight. Prince Philip's Steps is a bird-watching plateauwith Nazca and red-footed boobies. There is a large Palo Santo forest.
- Queen Isabella I of Castile.[24] With an area of 4,640 km2 (1,790 sq mi), it is the largest island of the Galápagos. Its highest point is Volcán Wolf, with an altitude of 1,707 m (5,600 ft). The island's seahorse shape is the product of the merging of six large volcanoes into a single land mass. On this island, Galápagos penguins, flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, pelicans and Sally Lightfoot crabs abound. At the skirts and calderas of the volcanoes of Isabela, land iguanas and Galápagos tortoises can be observed, as well as Darwin finches, Galápagos hawks, Galápagos doves and very interesting lowland vegetation. The third-largest human settlement of the archipelago, Puerto Villamil, is located at the southeastern tip of the island.
- Marchena (Bindloe) Island – Named after Fray Antonio Marchena, it has an area of 130 km2 (50 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 343 m (1,125 ft). Galapagos hawks and sea lions inhabit this island, and it is home to the Marchena lava lizard, an animal endemic to Marchena.
- North Seymour Island – Its name was given after an English nobleman, Lord Hugh Seymour. It has an area of 1.9 km2 (0.73 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 28 m (92 ft). This island is home to a large population of blue-footed boobies and swallow-tailed gulls. It hosts one of the largest populations of frigate birds. It was formed from geological uplift.
- Chelonoidis duncanensis and Galápagos sea lions, the island has no visitor facilities and a permit is required for legal visits.
- Charles Darwin Research Stationon Santa Cruz Island, where scientists attempted to breed from him. However, Lonesome George died in June 2012 without producing any offspring.
- Rábida (Jervis) Island – It bears the name of the convent of Rábida, where Columbus left his son during his voyage to the Americas[citation needed]. It has an area of 4.95 km2 (1.91 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 367 m (1,204 ft). The high amount of iron contained in the lava at Rábida gives it a distinctive red colour. White-cheeked pintail ducks live in a saltwater lagoon close to the beach, where brown pelicans and boobies have built their nests. Until recently, flamingos were also found in the lagoon, but they have since moved on to other islands, likely due to a lack of food on Rábida. Nine species of finches have been reported in this island.
- highlands of San Cristóbal. The capital of the province of Galápagos is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, which lies at the southern tip of the island, and is close to San Cristóbal Airport.
- habitat. The Highlands of Santa Cruz offer exuberant flora, and are famous for the lava tunnels. Large tortoise populations are found here. Black Turtle Cove is a site surrounded by mangroves, which sea turtles, rays and small sharks sometimes use as a mating area. Cerro Dragón, known for its flamingo lagoon, is also located here, and along the trail one may see land iguanas foraging.
- lava lizards.
- Santiago (San Salvador, James) Island – Its name is equivalent to Saint James in English; it is also known as San Salvador, after the first island discovered by Columbus in the Caribbean Sea. This island has an area of 585 km2 (226 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 907 m (2,976 ft). Marine iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, land and sea turtles, flamingos, dolphins and sharks are found here. Pigs and goats, which were introduced by humans to the islands and have caused great harm to the endemic species, have been eradicated (pigs by 2002; goats by the end of 2006). Darwin finches and Galápagos hawks are usually seen, as well as a colony of fur seals. At Sulivan Bay, a recent (around 100 years ago) pahoehoe lava flow can be observed.
- vampire finch, which feeds partly on blood pecked from other birds, and is only found on this island.
Minor islands
- Daphne Major – A small island directly north of Santa Cruz and directly west of Baltra, this very inaccessible island appears, though unnamed, on Ambrose Cowley's 1684 chart. It is important as the location of multidecade finch population studies by Peter and Rosemary Grant.
- South Plaza Island (Isla Plaza Sur) – It is named in honor of a former president of Ecuador, General Leónidas Plaza. It has an area of 0.13 km2 (0.050 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 23 m (75 ft). The flora of South Plaza includes Opuntia cactus and Sesuvium plants, which form a reddish carpet on top of the lava formations. Iguanas (land, marine and some hybrids of both species) are abundant, and large numbers of birds can be observed from the cliffs at the southern part of the island, including tropic birds and swallow-tailed gulls.
- North Plaza Island - This island lies north of South Plaza Island.
- Nameless Island – A small islet used mostly for scuba diving.
- Roca Redonda – An islet approximately 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Isabela. Herman Melville devotes the third and fourth sketches of The Encantadasto describing this islet (which he calls "Rock Rodondo") and the view from it.
- Guy Fawkes Island- A small island of the coast of Santa Cruz. It is an island group composed of two crescent-shaped islets—North Guy Fawkes I. (I. Guy Fawkes Norte) and South Guy Fawkes I. (I. Guy Fawkes Sud)—and two rocks located northwest of Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. The group is uninhabited but sometimes visited by scuba divers.
- Isla Beagle - This small island near to Santiago is largely uninhabited.
- Isla Caldwell - This island is near Floreana and has a length of 3.06 kilometers.
- Isla Campéon - Also known as Champion island, this islet is 1.64 kilometers in length and is one of the last refuges of the Floreana mockingbird.
- Isla Watson - This small islet is one of the many islets of Floreana island.
- Enderby Island - Besides of Isla Campéon, this island is another place where the Floreana mockingbirdlives.
- Floreana.
- Mosqua Island - Mosquera is one of the smallest islands in the archipelago. Located between North Seymour and Baltra Islands, it consists of many coral reefs, making it a great site for practicing snorkel and observing the marine life.
Mosquera is also home to one of the largest colonies of sea lions in the Galapagos, and there have been occasional orca whale sightings around the islet. As is usual in the archipelago, the islet is shared by many seabirds, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and Sally Lightfoot crabs.
- Tortuga Island - Isla Tortuga is unique as the island is in the shape of a crescent. The island is actually a collapsed volcano that is a nesting location for a variety of seabirds such as Frigatebirds and the elusive Red-Billed Tropicbird, among others.
- Isla Los Hermanos - This is a small island off Isabela.
- Isla Sombrero Chino - One of the most recognizable of the Galapagos Islands, Sombrero Chino name means "Chinese Hat." It's easy to see why: this islet off of Santiago is shaped like an old-fashioned Chinaman's hat, a gently sloping cone rising out of the clear Galapagos water. Because of its distinctive shape, Sombrero Chino has fascinated visitors as long as they have been coming to Galapagos.
- Daphne Minor - It is very near Daphne Major and share a lot of similarities, as both are tuff cones devoid of trees.
- Las Tintoreras Islet - It is a group of seven small islets to the south of the bay of Puerto Villamil in the island of Isabela, that forms part of the archipelago and national park of the Galapagos Islands, including administratively in the Province Of Galapagos.
- Leon Dormido - This island is located of San Cristobal.Visually striking, the two rocks of Leon Dormindo, which means “Sleeping Lion,” soar to some 450 feet (140 meters) into the air. The mild current between the two rocks creates a hotbed habitat for an extremely diverse group of fish and mammals.
- Isla Cowley - This small island is very small, located off Isabela.
- Isla El Edén - Eden Island is a sliver of volcanic rock located along the northwest shore of the large Santa Cruz Island. Isla El Edén measures less than 2,000 square feet in diameter. Despite its small size of .01 square miles, it exhibits three distinct landscapes. One is flat, arid and barren. In the middle is a 233 foot cliff.
- Isla Albany - Albany Rock is a small crescent shaped islet located in the northwest of Santiago Island.
- Floreana.
- Corona Del Diablo - Corona Del Diablo, also known as the Devil's Crown, located off of Floreana Island, not far from the shore, is a ring of uneven rocks that stick out of the water. Its name comes from the fact that it looks almost like an uncomfortable crown, that only the devil could wear.
Climate
Although the islands are located on the equator, the
There is also a large range in precipitation from one place to another and across the islands' two main seasons. The archipelago is mainly characterized by a mixture of a tropical savanna climate and a semi-arid climate, transitioning to a tropical rainforest climate in the northwest. During the rainy season known as the garúa from June to November, the temperature near the sea is around 22 °C (72 °F), a steady cool wind blows from south and southeast, frequent drizzles (garúas) for days, and dense fog conceals the islands. During the warm season from December to May, the average sea and air temperatures rise to around 25 °C (77 °F), there is no wind at all, and the sun shines apart from sporadic strong downpours. Weather also changes as altitude increases on the larger islands. Temperature decreases gradually with altitude, while precipitation increases due to the condensation of moisture from clouds on the slopes. This pattern of generally wet highlands and drier lowlands affects the plant life on the larger islands. The vegetation in the highlands tends to be green and lush, with tropical woodland in places. The lowland areas tend to have arid and semi-arid vegetation, with many thorny shrubs and cacti and areas of barren volcanic rock.
Some islands also fall within the rain shadow of others during some seasons. During March 1969, the precipitation over Charles Darwin Station on the southern coast of Santa Cruz was 249.0 mm (9.80 in), while on nearby Baltra Island the precipitation during the same month was only 137.6 mm (5.42 in). This is because Baltra is located behind Santa Cruz when the prevailing winds are southerly, causing more moisture to fall on the Santa Cruz highlands.
Climate data for San Cristóbal Island, 1981–2010 normals | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.2 (84.6) |
30.3 (86.5) |
30.5 (86.9) |
30.2 (86.4) |
29.2 (84.6) |
27.6 (81.7) |
26.4 (79.5) |
25.6 (78.1) |
25.7 (78.3) |
26.0 (78.8) |
27.0 (80.6) |
27.8 (82.0) |
28.0 (82.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.1 (79.0) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.7 (80.1) |
26.5 (79.7) |
25.9 (78.6) |
24.7 (76.5) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.7 (72.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
23.0 (73.4) |
23.9 (75.0) |
24.8 (76.6) |
24.8 (76.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.9 (73.2) |
23.1 (73.6) |
22.9 (73.2) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.7 (72.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
20.7 (69.3) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.8 (67.6) |
20.0 (68.0) |
20.9 (69.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
21.6 (70.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 83.4 (3.28) |
107.4 (4.23) |
106.3 (4.19) |
94.9 (3.74) |
41.9 (1.65) |
32.5 (1.28) |
18.8 (0.74) |
9.8 (0.39) |
7.6 (0.30) |
11.0 (0.43) |
12.6 (0.50) |
51.5 (2.03) |
577.7 (22.76) |
Average precipitation days | 11 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 119 |
Source: World Meteorological Organization[27] |
The following table for the especially wet year of 1969 shows the variation of precipitation in different places of Santa Cruz Island:
Location | Charles Darwin Station |
Devine Farm | Media Luna |
---|---|---|---|
Altitude | 6 m | 320 m | 620 m |
January | 23.0 mm | 78.0 mm | 172.6 mm |
February | 16.8 mm | 155.2 mm | 117.0 mm |
March | 249.0 mm | 920.8 mm | 666.7 mm |
April | 68.5 mm | 79.5 mm | 166.4 mm |
May | 31.4 mm | 214.6 mm | 309.8 mm |
June | 16.8 mm | 147.3 mm | 271.8 mm |
July | 12.0 mm | 42.2 mm | 135.6 mm |
August | 3.8 mm | 13.7 mm | 89.5 mm |
September | 18.5 mm | 90.9 mm | 282.6 mm |
October | 3.2 mm | 22.6 mm | 96.5 mm |
November | 11.0 mm | 52.8 mm | 172.7 mm |
December | 15.7 mm | 84.1 mm | 175.3 mm |
TOTALS | 469.7 mm | 1901.7 mm | 2656.4 mm |
Ecology
Terrestrial
Most of the Galápagos is covered in semi-desert vegetation, including shrublands, grasslands, and dry forest. A few of the islands have high-elevation areas with cooler temperatures and higher rainfall, which are home to humid-climate forests and shrublands, and montane grasslands (pampas) at the highest elevations. There are about 500 species of native vascular plants on the islands, including 90 species of ferns. About 180 vascular plant species are endemic.[28]
The islands are well known for their distinctive endemic species, including giant tortoises, finches, flightless cormorants, Galápagos lava lizards and marine iguanas, which evolved to adapt to islands' environments.[28]
History
Pre-Columbian era
Whether
In 1572, the Spanish chronicler
A 2008 report by archeologists from the
European discovery
European discovery of the Galápagos Islands is recorded occurring on 10 March 1535, when the
The Galápagos Islands first appeared on the maps of Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius around 1570.[38]
Pirate era
The first English captain to visit the Galápagos Islands was
In 1793, during the early
19th century
The first known permanent human resident on Galápagos was Patrick Watkins, an Irish sailor who was marooned on the Floreana from 1807 to 1809. According to later accounts, Watkins managed to survive by hunting, growing vegetables and trading with visiting whalers[45][46] before stealing a longboat from a whaling ship, impressing five of its crew as his "slaves", and navigating to Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland.[47] Watkins was the only one of the six to survive the journey.[47]
In 1818, the Nantucket whaleship Globe under Captain George Washington Gardner discovered a "mother lode" of sperm whales some thousand miles west of the South American coast approximately at the equator. He returned to Nantucket in 1820 with more than 2,000 barrels of sperm whale oil and the news of his discovery. This led to an influx of whaleships to exploit the new whaling ground and the Galápagos Islands became a frequent stop for the whalers both before and after visiting what came to be known as the Offshore Grounds. This led to the establishment in the Galápagos Islands of a kind of unofficial "post office" where whaleships stopped to pick up and drop off letters as well as for provisioning and repairing.[48]
In October 1820, the whaleship Essex out of Nantucket stopped at the Galápagos for these purposes on its way to the Offshore Grounds. On Colnett's Charles Island, while most of the crew were hunting tortoises one crewmember, English boatsteerer Thomas Chappel—for reasons still unclear—lit a fire which quickly burned out of control. Some of the tortoise hunters had a narrow escape and had to run a gauntlet of fire to get back to the ship. Soon almost the entire island was in flames. Crewmembers reported that after a day of sailing away they could still see the flames against the horizon. One crewmember who returned to the Galápagos several years afterward described the entire island as still a blackened wasteland.[49]
The
The Englishman William Gurney became mayor of a new settlement on Chatham Island in 1844.[52]
In April 1888
José Valdizán and Manuel Julián Cobos tried a new colonization, beginning the exploitation of a type of lichen found in the islands (Roccella portentosa) used as a coloring agent. After the assassination of Valdizán by some of his workers, Cobos brought from the continent to San Cristóbal Island a group of more than a hundred workers, and tried his luck at planting sugar cane. He ruled his plantation with an iron hand, which led to his assassination in 1904. In 1897, Antonio Gil began another plantation on Isabela Island.
Over the course of a whole year, from September 1904, an expedition of the Academy of Sciences of California, led by Rollo Beck, stayed in the Galápagos collecting scientific material on geology, entomology, ornithology, botany, zoology, and herpetology. Another expedition from that Academy was done in 1932 (Templeton Crocker Expedition) to collect insects, fish, shells, fossils, birds, and plants.
20th century
For a long time during the early 1900s and at least through 1929, a cash-strapped Ecuador had reached out for potential buyers of the islands to alleviate financial troubles at home. The US had repeatedly expressed its interest in buying the islands for military use as they were positioned strategically guarding the Panama Canal.[59] Besides the United States, Japan, Germany and Chile also expressed interest in establishing bases in the islands at the turn of the century.[60][61] Chile had previously acquired the Straits of Magellan[62] and Easter Island for strategic reasons and lieutenant Gregorio Santa Cruz argued in 1903 that possessing an island in equatorial waters, like the Galápagos, would be of great benefit since the geopolitical situation of Chile was expected to drastically change when the Panama Canal opened. Another benefit would be to widen the security radius of Chile.[63] Chile was alarmed by the United States plans to establish a Guantanamo-like base in the Galápagos Islands since it would mean that Chile's nitrate-rich northern provinces would be within the range of United States Navy.[64] Ecuador's staunch resistance to a US purchase or bases in the islands can be credited to Chilean diplomacy, which in turn was informally backed on this issue by Great Britain and Germany.[64]
In the 1920s and 1930s, a small wave of European settlers arrived in the islands. There occurred a series of unsolved disappearances on the island of Floreana in the 1930s among the largely European expatriate residents at the time, which prompted the movies The Empress of Floreana and The Galápagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden. Ecuadorian laws provided all colonists with the possibility of receiving twenty hectares each of free land, the right to maintain their citizenship, freedom from taxation for the first ten years in Galápagos, and the right to hunt and fish freely on all uninhabited islands where they might settle.[65] The first European colonists to arrive were Norwegians who settled briefly on Floreana, before moving on to San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. A few years later, other colonists from Europe, America and Ecuador started arriving on the islands, seeking a simpler life.[66] Descendants of the Norwegian Kastdalen family and the German Angermeyer still live on the islands.
During World War II, Ecuador authorized the United States to establish a naval base in Baltra Island, and radar stations in other strategic locations. Baltra was established as a United States Army Air Force base. Baltra was given the name of "Beta Base" along with "Alpha Base" in Nicaragua and "Gamma Base" in Salinas (continental Ecuador). The Crews stationed at Baltra and the aforementioned locations established a geographic triangle of protection in charge of patrolling the Pacific for enemy submarines, and also provided protection for the Panama Canal. After the war, the facilities were given to the government of Ecuador. Today, the island continues as an official Ecuadorian military base. The foundations and other remains of the US base can still be seen as one crosses the island. In 1946, a penal colony was established on Isabela Island, but it was suspended in 1959.
Galápagos National Park was established in 1959,[67] with tourism starting to expand in the 1960s, imposing several restrictions upon the human population already living on the island. However, opportunities in the tourism, fishing, and farming industries attracted a mass of poor fishermen and farmers from mainland Ecuador. In the 1990s and 2000s, violent confrontations between parts of the local population and the Galápagos National Park Service occurred, including capturing and killing giant tortoises and holding staff of the Galápagos National Park Service hostage to obtain higher annual sea cucumber quotas.[68]
21st century
In May 2023, Credit Suisse said it would buy Ecuador's debt of $1.6 billion in a "Debt-for-nature swap". It will sell 2035 and 2040 bonds for Galapagos conservation at a reduced issue price. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation insures the deal, [69] which per Reuters was "in the works for more than a year", predating UBS takeover of Credit Suisse.[70]
Politics
The islands are administered as Ecuador's Galápagos Province, established by presidential decree on 18 February 1973 during the administration of Guillermo Rodríguez Lara. The province is divided into three cantons, each covering groups of islands. The capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
Demographics
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
The largest ethnic group is composed of Ecuadorian Mestizos, the mixed descendants of Spanish colonists and indigenous Native Americans, who arrived mainly in the last century from the continental part of Ecuador. Some descendants of the early European and American colonists on the islands also still remain on the islands.
In 1959, approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people called the islands their home. In 1972 a census in the archipelago recorded a population of 3,488. By the 1980s, this number had risen to more than 15,000 people, and in 2010 there were 25,124 people in the Galápagos. 2021 projected population was 40,685.[71]
Five of the islands are inhabited: Baltra, Floreana, Isabela, San Cristóbal, and Santa Cruz.
Travel
Options for air travel to the Galápagos are limited to two islands: San Cristobal (San Cristóbal Airport) and Baltra (Seymour Airport).[72] Private aircraft must use Baltra as it is the airport equipped with overnight plane accommodations. Seymour Airport on Baltra was recently renovated (2012–2013) to accommodate larger planes.
Until 1969 the only way to visit was on a private or chartered vessel. There was no regular air service until Forrest Nelson's Hotel Galápagos began the first organized tours in April 1969. Soon other travel companies brought in tour ships and yachts, and local fishermen began converting their wooden boats for rudimentary cruising with guests. These vessels were the main source of overnight accommodations in the Galápagos.[73] Today there are about 85 yachts and ships equipped for overnight guests. In 2006 the Baltra military governed island, was opened up to limited overnight camping. Baltra also requires permits by the military government for overnight stays on the beach. Other inhabited islands also allow camping on the beaches designated as "recreational" use to the locals. All of these camping permits are limited to number of people and nights, with most nights not to exceed three.
Land based hotels are opening on the inhabited islands of San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Floreana and Isabela. By 2012, more than half the visitors to Galápagos made their tours using day boats and these small hotels. Restaurants, easy access and economy make this an attractive travel option.
There are only 116 visitor sites in the Galápagos: 54 land sites and 62 scuba-diving or snorkeling sites. Small groups are allowed to visit in 2- to 4-hour shifts only, to limit impact on the area. All groups are accompanied by licensed guides.
Environmental protection policy
Though the first protective legislation for the Galápagos was enacted in 1930 and supplemented in 1936, it was not until the late 1950s that positive action was taken to control what was happening to the native flora and fauna. In 1955, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature organized a fact-finding mission to the Galápagos. Two years later, in 1957, UNESCO, in cooperation with the government of Ecuador, sent another expedition to study the conservation situation and choose a site for a research station.
In 1959, the centenary year of
In 1986, the 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 sq mi) of ocean surrounding the islands was declared a
Noteworthy species include:
- Galápagos dove, Zenaida galapagoensis, two subspecies
- Galápagos flycatcher, Myiarchus magnirostris
- Galápagos land iguanas, Conolophus spp.
- Marine iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, the only iguana feeding in the sea
- Galápagos tortoise (Galápagos giant tortoise), Chelonoidis nigra, known as galápago in Spanish, it gave the name to the islands
- green turtle
- Galápagos racer, Pseudalsophis biserialis, an endemic species of snake with two subspecies
- Sea cucumbers, the cause of environmental battles with fishermen over quotasof this expensive Asian delicacy
- Flightless cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi
- Great frigatebird and magnificent frigatebird
- Blue-footed booby, Sula nebouxii, popular among visitors for their large blue feet which they show off in courtship
- Galápagos penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus, the only living tropical penguin
- Waved albatross, Phoebastria irrorata, the only living tropical albatross
- Galápagos hawk, Buteo galapagoensis, the islands' main scavenger (at the top of the food chain) and "environmental police"
- Four Galápagos mockingbirds, the first species Darwin noticed to vary from island to island
- Thirteen endemic species of tanagers, popularly called Darwin's finches. Among them is the sharp-beaked ground finch Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis which is sometimes called the "vampire finch" for its blood-sucking habits, and the tool-using woodpecker finch, Camarhynchus pallidus
- Galápagos sea lions, Zalophus wollebaeki, closely related to the California sea lion, but smaller
- Two endemic genera of cacti, each with a single species: Jasminocereus thouarsii, the candelabra cactus, and Brachycereus nesioticus, the lava cactus
Environmental threats
Introduced plants and animals, such as feral goats, cats, and cattle, brought accidentally or willingly to the islands by humans, represent the main threat to Galápagos.[76] Quick to reproduce and with no natural predators, these alien species decimated the habitats of native species. The native animals, lacking natural predators on the islands, are defenseless to introduced predators.
There are over 700 introduced plant species today. There are only 500 native and endemic species. This difference is creating a major problem for the islands and the natural species that inhabit them. These plants have invaded large areas and eliminated endemic species in the humid zones of San Cristobal, Floreana, Isabela and Santa Cruz. Some of the most harmful introduced plants are the guayaba or
Many species were introduced to the Galápagos by
Non-native goats, pigs, dogs, rats, cats, mice, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows, poultry, ants, cockroaches, and some parasites inhabit the islands today. Dogs and cats attack the tame birds and destroy the nests of birds, land tortoises, and marine turtles. They sometimes kill small Galápagos tortoises and iguanas.
Six species of small non-native vertebrates have established self-sufficient populations in Galápagos and may become invasive: Fowler's snouted tree frog
The fast-growing poultry industry on the inhabited islands has been cause for concern from local conservationists, who fear domestic birds could introduce disease into the endemic wild bird populations.
The Galápagos marine sanctuary is under threat from a host of
In 2007, UNESCO put the Galápagos Islands on their List of World Heritage in Danger because of threats posed by invasive species, unbridled tourism and overfishing.[87] On 29 July 2010, the World Heritage Committee decided to remove the Galápagos Islands from the list because the Committee found significant progress had been made by Ecuador in addressing these problems.[88]
On 28 January 2008, Galápagos National Park official Victor Carrion announced 53 sea lions (13 pups, 25 youngsters, 9 males and 6 females) were killed at the Galápagos Islands nature reserve on Pinta, with their heads caved in. In 2001, poachers killed 35 male sea lions.[89]
The Galápagos Islands were short-listed as a candidate to be one of the
The islands' biodiversity is under threat from several sources. The human population is growing at a rate of 8% per year (1995). Introduced species have caused damage, and in 1996 a US$5 million, five-year eradication plan commenced in an attempt to rid the islands of introduced species such as goats, rats, deer, and donkeys. Except for the rats, the project was essentially completed in 2006.[81][82] Rats have only been eliminated from the smaller Galápagos Islands of Rábida and Pinzón.[91]
See also
- List of birds of the Galápagos Islands
- List of animals in the Galápagos Islands
- Galápagos National Park
- Galápagos hotspot
- Galápagos Islands xeric scrub
- Galápagos Province
- Darwin's Arch
- Johanna Angermeyer, author of various books featuring the Galápagos Islands
Notes
- ^ The Galapagos are 7,880 square kilometers in land area.
References
Citations
- ^ "Welcome to Ecuador – Geography | Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility" (in Spanish). 1 May 2015. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d "History of Galápagos", Official site, Puerto Ayora: Galápagos Conservancy, 2023.
- ^ Jackson (1993), p. 1.
- RAE, 2014
- ^ "Galapagos, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
- ^ Ortelius, Abraham (1570), "Americae sive Novi Orbis Nova Descriptio [New Description of America or the New World]", Theatrum Orbis Terrarum [Theater of the Lands of the World] (in Latin), Antwerp: Gilles Coppens de Diest, reprinted in Latin and translation copiously thereafter.
- ^ a b Jackson (1993), p. 1.
- ^ a b c Perry (1984), p. 10.
- ISBN 9781118852415.
- ISBN 9781118852415.
- ^ ISBN 9781118852415.
- ^ ISBN 9781118852415.
- ISBN 9781118852415.
- ISBN 9781118852415.
- ISBN 9780918373298. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Galápagos Islands." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015
- ^ Pearson, David L.; David W. Middleton (1999). The New Key to Ecuador and the Galápagos (3rd ed.). Berkeley: Ulysses Press.
- ^ White, W. M. (2 October 1997). "A Brief Introduction to the Geology of the Galápagos". Cornell University Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ Mack, Eric (2 July 2018). "Galapagos Volcanoes Keep Erupting Around One Of The World's Most Incredible Islands". Forbes. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- PMID 20539752.
- ^ a b Grant & al. (2009).
- ^ "Galapagos Islands: Erosion fells Darwin's Arch". BBC News. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Isabela Island". Galapagos Conservation Trust. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- JSTOR 633849.
- S2CID 84748689.
- ^ "San Cristobal-Galapagos". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Galápagos Islands xeric scrub". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- ISBN 9789820203884. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ JSTOR j.ctt24h8gp.20.
- ^ Nordenskiöld, Erland (1931). Comparative Ethnographical Studies - Volume 9. The University of California. p. 24. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "EASTER ISLAND HISTORY | Imagina Easter Island". Imaginarapanui.com. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ISBN 163121151X.
- ^ Heyerdahl & al. (1956).
- ^ Lundh, Jacob (1995). "A brief account of some early inhabitants of Santa Cruz Island." In Noticias de Galápagos No. 55. Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands.
- S2CID 132688162.
- ^ "The History of the Galápagos Islands & Charles Darwin". Quasar Expeditions. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ISBN 978-0-300-12230-5.
- ^ Latorre, Octavio (1995). "Los Tesoros Escondidos de las Islas Galapagos" (PDF). Noticias de Galapagos (in Spanish) (55): 66. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ a b c McEwen (1988), pp. 234–236.
- ^ Jackson (1993), p. 2.
- ^ Civallero, Edgardo (1 December 2021), "Pirates and Jelly", Galapagueana, Brussels: Charles Darwin Foundation.
- ^ Benz (2000), p. 32.
- ^ McEwen (1988), p. 237.
- ^ Porter (1822).
- ^ Melville (1854).
- ^ a b Jackson (1993), p. 3.
- ^ Perry (1972), p. 44.
- ^ Nickerson, T. (c. 1876) Account of the Ship Essex Sinking, 1819–1821. Holograph ms. in the Thomas Nickerson Collection, 1819–1876, Folder 1. Nantucket, Massachusetts: Nantucket Historical Society.
- ^ a b c d e Halls (2020), p. 111.
- ^ a b c d Grant & al. (2009), p. https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Darwin_in_Gal%C3%A1pagos/MiRTI6lBRnAC?hl=en&pg=PA115 115].
- ^ a b c Grant & al. (2009), p. https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Darwin_in_Gal%C3%A1pagos/MiRTI6lBRnAC?hl=en&pg=PA116 116]
- ^ a b c Halls (2020), p. 112.
- ^ a b Niles Eldredge (Spring 2006). "VQR – Confessions of a Darwinist". The Virginia Quarterly Review. pp. 32–53. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
- ^ "The Norwegian Who Inspired Darwin". ThorNews. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ Keynes (2000), p. 291–293.
- ISBN 0-465-03810-7.
The Albatross stayed in the archipelago for less than two weeks in 1888, but managed to stop at eight different islands. The ship's naturalists and crew gathered specimens at each anchorage, concentrating on birds, reptiles, and fish. The landfalls included the abandoned settlement on Charles Island, where the ship's captain report "great numbers of cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, sheep and hots were running wild" where native species once flourished, and a new sugarcane plantation and cattle ranch on Chatham Island that also encroached on wild habitat.
- ^ Roosevelt, Eleanor (28 March 1944), "28 March 1944", My Day, New York: United Feature Syndicate.
- ^ "May Sell Galapagos; Ecuador Needs Money, Wants Rid of Key to Canal". The Pittsburgh Press. United Press. 21 January 1929. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ Fischer, Ferenc (1999). "¿La guantánamo del océano pacífico? la rivalidad de los EE.UU., Alemania, Japón, y Chile por la adquisición de las islas galápagos antes de la I guerra mundial". El modelo militar prusiano y las fuerzas armadas de Chile 1885–1945 (in Spanish). Pécs, Hungary: University Press. pp. 71–87.
- Universidad de Santiago de Chile.
- ISBN 0-7923-0181-1, pages 62 and 63
- ^ Garay Vera, Cristián (2011). "La imaginación territorial chilena y la apoteosis de la armada de chile 1888–1940. Otra mirada a los límites 'Naturales'" [Chilean territorial imagination and the apotheosis of the Chilean Navy between 1888–1940. A different view of "natural" limits] (PDF). Revista enfoques (in Spanish). 9 (15). University of Santiago, Chile: 75–95. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ a b Fischer, Ferenc (21 April 2008). "La expansión (1885–1918) del modelo militar alemán y su pervivencia (1919–1933) en América Latina" [The expansion (1885–1918) of the German military model and its survival (1919–1933) in Latin America]. Revista del CESLA (in Spanish). 11. University of Warsaw: 135–160. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Lundh, Jacob P. Galápagos: A Brief History. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ Hoff, Stein. Drømmen om Galápagos [The Dream of the Galapagos] (in Norwegian). Translated by Horneman, Friedel; Bowman, Robert I. Grøndahl & Sønn. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ "Galápagos Conservation". galapagos.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ^ Stutz, Bruce D. (1995). "The Sea Cucumber War". Audubon. 97 (3): 16.
- ^ "Credit Suisse buys Ecuador bonds for Galapagos conservation". DW. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ Campos, Rodrigo; Jones, Marc (5 May 2023). "Ecuador frees cash for Galapagos conservation with $1.6 billion bond buyback". Reuters. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ "Ecuador Population 2021/2022". www.populationu.com. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- ^ "Información de interés para la llegada a las islas". galapagos.gob.ec (in Spanish). Gobierno de la República del Ecuador. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ISBN 978-9942-944-06-1.
- ^ Grant (2009).
- ^ "Galápagos no longer on List of World Heritage in Danger – News Watch". Blogs.nationalgeographic.com. 29 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "The islands that once inspired Charles Darwin struggle to adapt to the coronavirus". Associated Press. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020 – via Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Heyerdahl, Thor; & Skjolsvold, Arne (1956). "Archaeological Evidence of Pre-Spanish Visits to the Galápagos Islands", Memoirs 12, Society for American Archaeology.
- ^ "Feral dogs and cats in Galápagos". Petsaspests.blogspot.com.es. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- PMID 23676736.
- ^ "Invasive Species". Galapagos Conservancy. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Project Isabela". Galapagos Conservancy. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ a b John (5 March 2015). "Project Isabela: When Slaughtering 250,000 Goats Meant Saving A Species". All That Is Interesting. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ISSN 2167-9843.
- ISBN 9783319671765.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ Urbina, Ian (1 November 2020). "China's Outlaw Fishermen. Le Monde Diplomatique".
- ^ "World Heritage in Danger List". UNESCO World Heritage. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
- ^ "World Heritage Committee inscribes the Tombs of Buganda Kings (Uganda) and removes Galápagos Islands (Ecuador)". UNESCO World Heritage. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "BBC NEWS, Sea lions massacred in Galápagos". BBC News. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ New 7 Wonders of the World: Live Ranking Archived 5 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Post-Rat Eradication and Monitoring on Pinzón". Galapagos Conservancy. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
- ^ "Galapagos: El Niño and La Niña". Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Galápagos Islands" in The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide (2010). Abington: Helicon.
Bibliography
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Galapagos Islands". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Benz, Richard (2000), Ecology and Evolution: Islands of Change, ISBN 9780873551830.
- Grant, K. Thalia (2009), "Darwin and the Galapagos: Evolution of a Legacy", World Heritage.
- Grant, K. Thalia; et al. (2009), Darwin in Galápagos: Footsteps to a New World, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691142104.
- Halls, Monty (2020), My Family and the Galapagos, London: Headline Publishing, ISBN 9781472268815.
- Heyerdahl, Thor; et al. (1956), Memoir 12: Archaeological Evidence of Pre-Spanish Visits to the Galápagos Islands, Society for American Archaeology.
- Jackson, Michael Hume (1993), Galapagos: A Natural History, Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
- Keynes, Richard, ed. (2000), "June – August 1836", Charles Darwin's Zoology Notes & Specimen Lists from H.M.S. Beagle, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- , as "Salvator R. Tarnmoor".
- Perry, Roger (1972), The Galapagos Islands, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co, ISBN 978-0-396-06576-0.
- Perry, Roger (1984), "The Islands and Their History", Key Environments: Galápagos, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 1–14.
- Porter, D. (1822), Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean.
Further reading
- Black, Juan (1973), Galápagos, Archipiélago del Ecuador (in Spanish), Quito
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), a comprehensive monograph by a former officer of the Galápagos National Park financed by the World Wildlife Fund and the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands - Müller, Bodo; et al. (2003), Galápagos: Die Verwunschenen Inseln (in German), BLV, ISBN 3-86108-909-2.
- Quammen, David (1996), The Song of the Dodo, New York: Touchstone.
- Romero, Simon (4 October 2009), "To Protect Galápagos, Ecuador Limits a Two-Legged Species", The New York Times, New York
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Wittmer, Margret (1961), Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galápagos, Travel Book Club, a memoir written by the matriarch of the first family to successfully inhabit Floreana, settling there in 1932.
External links
- Media related to Galapagos at Wikimedia Commons
- Galapagos Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage
- "Galápagos Islands xeric scrub". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- Galápagos geology, with general information on the Galápagos Islands