My wife and I bypassed the Galapagos during our first trip to Ecuador 10 years ago, as we had heard there were too many cruise ships, tourists and commercial fishing activities degrading the environment in these eco-sensitive islands.
Last month we were given the opportunity by Ecoventura to sail aboard their 20-passenger motor yacht the M/Y Letty to see for ourselves the environmental state of the islands.
Regeneration of native flora on Isla Plazas.
The Galapagos were discovered by the Spanish in 1535 and made famous by Charles Darwin through his book The Origin of Species. The Galapagos became a haven for pirates and whalers who introduced mammals, plants and insects with disastrous consequences for endemic animals and vegetation.
In 1959, the Ecuadorian government created the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS), which controls 97 percent of all land within the archipelago. The GNPS does not need to consult with anyone regarding the land but it is a different matter for the Marine Reserve (MR) which falls under the GNPS. The waters of the Galapagos are under the greatest environmental threat, especially from local and industrial fishing activities, which makes the work of the MR crucial.
Blue Footed Boobies – the male on right is trying to entice the female during a courtship dance.
One afternoon, just south of the equator and on a calm sea, with volcanic cones on the horizon, I enjoyed a relaxed chat with Gustavo Nadrade, a naturalist on the Letty whose family has lived on the Galapagos since 1905.
“The 1998 Special Law for the Galapagos created a participatory board to oversee the marine reserve,” said Gustavo. “This board creates regulations impacting the fishing industry and it protects the marine reserve. Board members come from the fishing industry, tourist operators, the Ecuadorian navy, environmental groups and government.”
Gustavo also mentioned the high human birth rate on the islands and its potential for social and environmental problems.
Sea Lion at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal Island.
In an attempt to reverse almost five centuries of destructive activities by feral animals such as goats (which successfully compete for vegetation needed by endemic animals to survive), the GNPS has engaged in a decades-long program to eradicate these human-introduced intruders. With a concept imported from New Zealand, snipers are placed in helicopters to cull the herds. On some of the islands, such as Floreana, where feral animals have been successfully eradicated, tortoises and other endemic species have been reintroduced.
Visiting the Galapagos is a surreal experience—I have never seen so much wildlife in one concentrated area, which makes it deceivingly difficult to see the many environmental issues that plague the archipelago. Every bend in a pathway brings a new experience that overwhelm the senses, from the courtship dances of blue-footed boobies to land iguanas climbing shrubs in the pursuit of succulent greenery or young sea lions frolicking in shoreline rookeries, none of whom fear humans.
Waves breaking on the north shore of North Seymour Island.
The environmental challenges that face the Galapagos are many. The above only scratches the surface of what has and what still needs to be done to maintain and improve the ecological health of the archipelago that provided the basis for scientific evolution, challenging human ingenuity and vigilance for decades to come.
Photo Credits
All photos by Joseph Frey – All Rights Reserved
First published at Travel and Escape
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Good article Joe. Let’s hope that at least in this one small but important part of the natural world we can keep humans from thoughtlessly destroying yet more of the planet’s eco-system.