Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

The Galapagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 620 miles off the coast of South America. The Galapagos are a province of Ecuador and consist of about nineteen large islands and more than one hundred smaller islands and rocky outcrops. Accidentally discovered by a Spanish bishop whose ship drifted off course, the Galapagos were named for the distinctive shells of the giant tortoises that inhabit the islands. The isolated nature of the archipelago has created a unique ecosystem featuring thousands of species, including many found nowhere else on Earth. The islands' wildlife was one of the primary inspirations for Charles Darwin when he developed his theory of evolution. The species that inhabit the islands have made the Galapagos a popular destination for modern tourists.

Background

The Galapagos Islands are relatively young on a geological scale. They are located near the confluence of three tectonic plates—large, moving sections of the earth's crust. The oldest islands were created by repeated volcanic eruptions between three and five million years ago. The younger islands are no more than a few thousand years old and are still in the process of being formed. Most of the larger islands consist of single volcanoes, including some that are still active. The largest island, Isabela, was created from the merger of six volcanoes into one land formation.

When the islands were newly formed, they were completely barren with no native plant or animal life. The species that came to live on the Galapagos migrated there by either sea or air. As a result, the islands are home to many species of birds, reptiles, and smaller mammals that may have floated or been carried to the archipelago. Most of the plants on the islands are grasses, ferns, and weeds—species whose seeds are more likely to have been spread by the wind.

The Galapagos have a land area of 4,897 square miles and cover a total area of about 28,000 square miles in the Pacific. Isabela, named for Spain's Queen Isabella, has an area of 1,771 square miles, slightly more than one-third of the Galapagos' total land area. The tallest peak on Isabela, the 5,600-foot Wolf Volcano, is also the highest point in the islands. Four of the islands—Isabela, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, and Floreana—are inhabited with a human population of just over 28,000 according to the 2022 Ecuadorean census.

Overview

Human discovery of the Galapagos did not occur until 1535 when a ship carrying Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, encountered calm seas on the way to Peru. As the ship drifted off course, it was carried near the chain of islands by the currents. Desperate for fresh water, the crew searched the barren islands and barely found enough to survive. De Berlanga described a "worthless" landscape with sparse vegetation and an abundant population of seals, birds, and reptiles. He reported his discovery back to Spain, noting the presence of a large number of saddleback tortoises on the islands. In Spanish, these tortoises were called galopegos; the name caught on, and by the late sixteenth century, Spanish maps referred to the islands as the Insulae de los Galopegos. The tricky currents, dense fog, and dangerous rocks around the islands also earned them another name from sailors of the age: Las Encantadas, "The Enchanted Islands."

For the next few centuries, the Galapagos were a port of call for pirates and whaling ships passing through the Pacific. In 1832, the nation of Ecuador took control of the islands and established the first permanent settlements. Three years later, British naturalist Charles Darwin arrived in the islands aboard the HMS Beagle, a Royal Navy vessel on a charting mission around South America. Darwin set foot on four of the islands and made detailed notes of the plants and animals he saw there. He noticed that some birds and tortoises had different features depending on which of the islands they were found. Upon further examination of his data, Darwin determined that the behaviors and bill shapes of several species of finches were specifically tailored to survive on their home island. This suggested that the birds had adapted to their environment through an evolutionary process called natural selection. Darwin published this theory of evolution in his 1859 work, The Origin of Species.

To mark the centennial of Darwin's book in 1959, the nation of Ecuador declared more than 97 percent of the islands to be a national park. In 1978, the Galapagos were named a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the honor was also extended to the 28,000 square miles of ocean surrounding the islands in 2001. With its protected status, the Galapagos are primarily used for scientific research. They are also a popular tourist destination, with more than 267,000 people visiting the islands in 2022.

The Galapagos Islands have maintained about 95 percent of their biodiversity since humans first set foot there. Of the more than four thousand native species, only about seventeen are known to have become extinct. About 40 percent of the islands' species are considered endemic, or unique, to the Galapagos. Among them are the flightless cormorant and the marine iguana—the only oceangoing iguana in the world. The only natural predator in the ecosystem is the Galapagos Hawk.

The largest plant species of the Galapagos is a tree-sized relative of the daisy called Scalesia pedunculata, which can grow as tall as 65 feet. Because they can go for longer periods without food or water, reptiles, such as iguanas and the giant tortoise, are the most common animals on the islands. Amphibians and small mammals, which need more food and cannot withstand the harsh sun, are rarely found. The larger mammals on the Galapagos are marine animals such as seals, sea lions, and whales. Of the fifty-six native bird species, forty-five, or 80 percent, are endemic to the islands. One of those, the small-statured Galapagos penguin, is the only species of penguin that lives north of the equator.

Bibliography

“Annual Report 2022.” Parque Nacional Galapagos Ecuador, 2022, www.galapagos.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/GNPD-2022-ANNUAL-REPORT.pdf. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"Charles Darwin." Galapagos Conservancy, www.galapagos.org/about‗galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/charles-darwin/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

“Galapagos Island Population 2024.” World Population Review, worldpopulationreview.com/regions/galapagos-island. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"Galápagos Islands." National Geographic, 15 Nov. 2010, www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/galapagos-islands/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"Galápagos Islands." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, whc.unesco.org/en/list/1. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

"History of the Galapagos Islands." GalapagosIslands.com, www.galapagosislands.com/info/history/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Horwell, David, and Pete Oxford. Galapagos Wildlife. Bradt Travel Guides, 2011.

Nicholls, Henry. The Galapagos: A Natural History. Basic Books, 2014.

Stephenson, Marylee. The Galapagos Islands and Ecuador: Your Essential Handbook for Exploring Darwin's Enchanted Islands. 3rd ed., Mountaineers Books, 2015.