Sunday, February 3, 2019

Interesting Facts About Galapagos


Interesting Facts About Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands were accidentally discovered in 1535 by Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, as he was sailing to Peru. He deemed the islands "dross, worthless, because it has not the power of raising a little grass, but only some thistles." Indeed, 2 men and 10 horses died of thirst before he found an island with fresh water. It took several more centuries before the islands became permanently inhabited.


Image result for fray tomas de berlanga
imagecredit:https://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/accidental-visitors/

The word “Galapago” means “riding saddle”, used by Bishop Tomas and his crew to describe the tortoise shells. Apparently, the name stuck.

Image result for riding saddle
imagecredit:https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/buyers-guides/best-gp-saddles-510796

The official name is “Archipelago de Colon”. Also called the Enchanted Islands because they seem to disappear in the mist and fog.


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imagecredit:https://www.visitgalapagos.travel/visitor-sites/el-junco-lagoon.html

In the 1500s, pirates used the islands to hideout and stash their loot.


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imagecredit:https://www.nickgowman.com/portfolio/cartoon-pirates/

In the early 1900s, Ecuador almost sold the islands because the country was strapped with debt.

The movie Master and Commander was partially filmed here. They were extremely careful not to damage the islands. Intrusive scenes were filmed in California.


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imagecredit:https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world/id273068930

Galapagos is 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador. 


Locator Map of  Galapagos Islands
imagecredit:https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/galap.htm

It consists of 7880 km² of land spread over 45,000 km² of ocean.

The Galapagos is made of 13 major and 7 minor islands, and over 100 rocks and islets (small islands). The islands are completely oceanic, which means they have never been connected to the mainland. One of the islands is called Nameless Island.


Map of  Galapagos Islands
imagecredit:https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/galap.htm

The Galapagos Islands were claimed by Ecuador in 1832.

In 1842, Herman Melville visited the Galapagos, and it is said that this area was his inspiration for Moby Dick. The real-life crew of the Essex landed at Galapagos in 1820 to replenish supplies.


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imagecredit:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/south-america/ecuador/galapagos-islands/articles/the-secret-history-of-galapagos/

The oldest islands are gradually sinking back into the sea while the younger islands are rising.

The islands are in close proximity to 3 tectonic plates.  This causes the islands to drift about 7 cm southwest per year.  At that rate, it will slide under South America in 14 or 15 million years.  But no worries, there will be new islands created by then.


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imagecredit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Galapagos_Microplate

Four different water currents meet in this area.


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imagecredit:https://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/galsite/research/projects/ader/

In 2018, the Galapagos celebrated 40 years as a UNESCO World Heritage site.


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imagecredit:https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2013/08/unesco-united-nations-educational-scientific-and-cultural-organization/

97% of the islands have been declared a national park by Ecuador, with a $100 entry fee. The Galapagos National Park celebrates 60 years in 2019. 


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imagecredit:https://academybaydiving.com/es/tag/galapagos-national-park-es/


No people can reside in the national park. There are officially about 25,000 people living on 4 of the islands in the non-national park areas. Although the population is closer in reality to 40,000 people. The majority live on the island of Santa Cruz. People have lived on the Galapagos for less than 200 years.

The number of Ecuadoreans moving to the Galapagos is increasing, in order to meet demand in tourism jobs. Between 1974 and 1998, there has been a 375% increase in population. Yikes! The islands are having a difficult time sustaining this many people plus the tourists that arrive each year. 

The most famous resident of the Galapagos was medical student Charles Darwin, who arrived in 1835 on board the H.M.S. Beagle.  The ship crew was on a 4 year surveying mission, beginning in 1831. Darwin was not a paid member of the crew.  Commander Robert Fitz Roy had decided to take someone along who could  "profit from the opportunity of visiting different countries yet little known."  Darwin was also interested in geology. 


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imagecredit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Beagle

Darwin and the crew were only on the Galapagos Islands for 5 weeks.  He was only 26 years old.


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imagecredit:https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/charles-darwins-evolutionary-revelation-in-australia.aspx

While there, he collected extensive samples of both animals and plants to take back with him.  He noted in particular "the differences between the inhabitants of the different islands".

Image result for domed vs saddleback
imagecredit:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15787-7

Darwin studied the animals and decided that they could adapt to their environments as was necessary to survive. Seeming to support his theory, some of the islands’ feral dogs have developed a capacity to drink salty seawater without harm. Darwin's Origin of the Species was published in 1859.

The National Park imposes a limit of 1660 people maximum per day on boats and 180 on day cruises. Tours and cruises must be planned far in advance. Visitors must show proof of a return airline ticket, a reservation with a hotel or cruise, and a transit control card.

Visitors are only allowed in certain places, must disembark at designated landing spots, must walk on clearly marked paths only, and can only step onto an island with a Galapagos National Park Guide. Guides are only allowed a small group of people.

The Galapagos National Park protects the land, but there is also the Galapagos Marine Reserve which protects 13 million hectares of water surrounding the islands. This is about half the land area of Ecuador. The Marine Reserve protects 3,000 different marine animals, and a quarter of these are found nowhere else on Earth. Prior to the establishment of the Reserve in 1986, only about 1% of the water surrounding the islands was protected.


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imagecredit:https://galapagosconservation.org.uk/about-galapagos/conservation/overfishing/screen-shot-2016-03-26-at-18-10/

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There are strict rules against introducing new food, animals, or plants to the islands. Or taking anything away.

Flash photography is not allowed in protected areas. Smoking is prohibited, to avoid fires. Motorized sports and aerial tourism is not allowed. No jet skis or helicopters!

They are in the same time zone as we are back home. They have 12 hours of daylight per day.

The average temperature in February is 27°C. The average water temperature is 25°C.

There are more than 400 species of fish, including several species of shark. However, because the sharks already enjoy an abundant food supply, there has never been a recorded shark attack on a human in the Galapagos.

Image result for no shark attacks allowed cartoon
imagecredit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcOEQXvNKU

The Galapagos has 600 species of plants. Any flower that is not white or yellow is NOT a native plant.  This is because the carpenter bee is responsible for most of the pollination on the Galapagos, and it prefers white and yellow flowers.


Image result for galapagos white and yellow flowers
imagecredit:https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/up-close-and-personal-with-natural-selection-in-action-the-tale-of-two-islands-of-the-galapagos.html


There are a lot of unique animals that can only be found in the Galapagos. Endemic to the Galapagos:   42% of the plants, 79% of mammals, 80% of birds, 91% of reptiles and 56% of insects.

The only native land mammals are rice rats and bats.

All the other mammals are marine: seals, whales and dolphins.

Over 50,000 sea lions live on the Galapagos.

There is a species of carnivorous centipede that grows to 30 cm and has been known to eat lava lizards and rats.


Image result for 30 cm centipede of galapagos
imagecredit:https://peteoxford.photoshelter.com/image/I0000BSUlTjBcZXU

There are no endemic amphibians in the Galapagos.

There are 29 species of land birds and 19 species of sea birds. The most popular are the boobies, which come in 3 varieties: the red-footed, the blue-footed, and the Nazca boobies, which look like they are wearing a black mask.

This is the only place in the world where cormorants cannot fly. They evolved to a size that is too large. Found only in the Galapagos, the Flightless Cormorant is one of the rarest birds in the world, with an estimated population of just 1,000.

Image result for flightless cormorant galapagos islands
imagecredit:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightless_cormorant

There are penguins: the only place they exist naturally in the northern hemisphere.


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imagecredit:https://www.penguins-world.com/galapagos-penguin/

Half of the land species of animals only live on Galapagos.

Galapagos tortoises live over 100 years.

There are 7 species of lava lizards. It is also the only place in the world where you can find swimming lizards.


Image result for galapagos lava lizard
imagecredit:https://galapagosconservation.org.uk/wildlife/lava-lizard/

The wild animals in Galapagos have never developed a fear of humans. You can get quite close to them, although you are asked to stay 6 feet away from them.


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imagecredit:https://www.santacruzgalapagoscruise.com/galapagos-islands-facts-animals/

The islands sit atop what is known as the "Galapagos Hotspot".  This is a stationary area of intense heat in the mantle below the earth's crust, where magma originates.  The hotspot causes the mantle and crust to melt, creating fissures in the ocean floor.  Magma escapes through the fissure and rises through the ocean floor.  It cools with the cold ocean temperatures, creates cones, and if the cones reach above the level of the ocean, creates islands.

imagecredit:https://www.metropolitan-touring.com/east-galapagos-islands/

Thus the Galapagos is one of the largest and most active groups of oceanic volcanoes in the world.  There have been 50 volcanic eruptions in the last 200 years, and 13 eruptions in the last 100 years. A recent eruption was in 2015, with 15 km high ash.


Image result for 2015 volcanic eruption galapagos
imagecredit:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32882500

In Galapagos, there are no hurricanes…ever.



2019 is projected to be an El Niño year. Trade winds that bring cold water will weaken, meaning the water will be warmer for snorkelling, etc. Plant life on the islands will flourish, but it also means the marine life will have less food.

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