Paradise in Trouble: The Galapagos Islands

February 13, 2001

Paradise in Trouble: The Galápagos Islands

The Oil Spill

tortoise When people hear the name "Galápagos Islands," they usually envision a paradise full of exotic flora and fauna. The rich biodiversity of the islands led Charles Darwin to the theories presented in his major work, The Origin of the Species. What threats now face the indigenous, endemic species found on the islands?

On January 16, 2001, a tanker named Jessica ran aground in the Galápagos Islands at Wreck Bay—a name that sadly proved prophetic. The accident occurred 700 meters off the coast of San Cristóbal Island, one of the major islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The tanker was carrying 240,000 gallons of fuel oil. The oil did not immediately spill into the water, and emergency crews began removing it from the ship.

Over the next few days, waves battered the ship, causing it to break up. About 180,000 gallons of fuel flowed into the sea. Scientists from the Charles Darwin Research Station, reinforced by other scientists with experience in oil spills, set up several emergency centers. One group gathered the spilled oil from the water into tubs. Another group cleaned wildlife—sea lions, pelicans, boobies, and gulls—covered in fuel oil.

Almost as if appalled that a human-caused accident could ruin such a perfect work of art, Nature herself lent a hand to the rescue efforts. Ocean currents and winds normally flow westward in the area of the spill. They shifted northward, carrying the oil farther out into the ocean, away from shore. The waves broke up the fuel oil, which threatened to block the sunlight that feeds the algae in the water. In all, the damage is probably not as severe as initially thought, although the spill will have short-term effects on the area's delicate ecosystem.

The Enchanted Islands

The Galápagos Islands were discovered off the coast of Ecuador in 1535 by a Panamanian bishop whose ship was blown off course on its way to Peru. The bishop named the islands "The Enchanted Islands" (Las Islas Encantadas). The islands were eventually renamed for the giant tortoises—galápagos—that live there.

The Galápagos archipelago consists of 13 main islands, 6 smaller islands, and dozens of islets. The rugged islands were formed by volcanoes, some of which are active on the islands today. A cold ocean current originating in the Antarctic is deflected past the Galápagos Islands, making the surrounding waters very cold. The Sun is intense on these equatorial islands, making land temperatures warm. This unique combination enables penguins and fur seals to live alongside tropical animals like iguanas.

The islands have many endemic (unique to a given area) species, including 50% of the island's birds, 42% of its land plants, 70% of the insects, 17% of the fish, and 95% of the reptiles. Some of the species are unique to only one of the islands. The biodiversity is so rich because the creatures have had to adapt to the islands' harsh conditions.

Richard Benz, a high school biology teacher at Wickliffe High School in Wickliffe, Ohio, has made three trips to the Galápagos Islands. He explains the thrill of visiting the islands: "When someone visits a zoo, they exclaim over the beautiful animal. Then they move on to the next cage. While this is an educational experience, it is only part of the story. When you visit the Galápagos Islands, for the first half day you also are amazed at the beautiful creatures. But then you see something more. The animals are so close and uninhibited that you begin to see their natural behaviors—like courting and bonding. This is the real value of a visit to the islands."

After the islands were discovered, they were used as a rest spot by pirates and whalers. The Galápagos Islands gained an international reputation for their beauty when English naturalist Charles Darwin published his book on natural selection, The Origin of the Species, in 1859. By the early twentieth century, settlers began to inhabit the larger islands, which are not particularly amenable to its residents. Today the population is over 15,000. Population projections place the 2030 population count at 80,000.

tortoise

Invasion by Man and Other Species

While the oil spill put the threats to the Galápagos Islands onto the front pages of newspapers, other threats have quietly been endangering species on the islands for years.

Over the past century people have been moving to the major islands. They bring with them cattle, goats, dogs, and other nonnative species. These invasive species have no natural predators on the islands, so their populations can grow unchecked. They compete with native species for food, often at a disastrous price.

For example, dogs brought to the islands as pets have put some iguana species onto the endangered list. The goat population on Isabela Island has grown to about 100,000. Goats have also spread to islands not inhabited by humans. These nonnative animals have decimated many endemic plants and are destroying the habitat of the giant tortoises. Nonnative species also bring new diseases, to which native populations may not have resistance.

Study the population growth curve of an invasive species—rabbits in Australia—using the Biology Explorer activities, S and J Curves, Introducing a Virus, and Effect of Food Supply. (These activities require Logal Express. Get a free trial subscription).

Tourists have also invaded the Galápagos Islands. About 60,000 people visited the islands last year. Tourists need hotels, boats, and other services, and they leave behind a lot of trash and pollution. All of which have a negative impact on the ecosystem. In fact, some of the fuel oil being carried by the Jessica was intended for running tour boats.

Another threat that man has brought to the Galápagos Islands is industrial fishing. Fishing has depleted the lobster and sea cucumber populations. The fishermen use smaller fish for bait, directly competing with the natural predators of these fish such as marine mammals and sea turtles. Species such as sea turtles, sharks, and dolphins get caught in the tuna nets or are killed by long-line fishing.

Fishermen also illegally collect other species such as sea horses, snails, sea urchins, and black coral for trade. Industrial fishermen have in the past occupied a park service facility, wounded a park warden, and killed giant tortoises in an attempt to "protect fishing rights."

Conservation Efforts

Ecuador first designated parts of the Galápagos Islands as a wildlife sanctuary in 1935. In 1959 the government established the Galápagos National Park, which protects 97% of the land. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added the islands to the World Heritage List in 1978, and they became internationally recognized as a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program in 1984.

In 1986, the Galápagos Marine Resources Reserve (GMRR) was established to protect the waters surrounding the islands. The classification was upgraded to a Biological Reserve of Marine Resources in 1996.

The Charles Darwin Foundation was established in 1959. In 1964 its field station, the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS), was inaugurated on Santa Cruz Island. Research projects include studies of the island ecosystems, ecology of and conservation strategies for fauna and flora, geomorphology (the science that deals with relief features of Earth and seeks a genetic interpretation of them) and climate, and studies of introduced plant and animal species.

Despite all these steps, the Galápagos Islands are an ecosystem in danger, caught in the conflict between conservation and development. For years cash-strapped Ecuador ignored the threats to the islands and encouraged immigration, tourism, agriculture, and fishing. When UNESCO threatened to place the Galápagos Islands on the World Heritage in Danger list, the Ecuadoran government finally began to take action to protect this national treasure.

The Ecuadoran president issued an Emergency Decree in 1997, imposing restrictions on immigration to the island and on industrial fishing. A Special Law for the Galápagos was drafted, restricting the introduction of invasive species, placing residence controls on where people can live, calling for environmental conservation in the inhabited zone, and enforcing a stronger quarantine system to ensure that plants and animals brought to the islands are free of disease.

The Ecuadorian government has also placed restrictions on tourism. Biology teacher Richard Benz notes that visitors must travel in small groups, accompanied by a local naturalist. They are only allowed to visit certain areas and must stay on marked trails. Visitors are forbidden to bring food onto the islands and cannot give water to the animals. Scientists do not want the animals to become dependent on tourists for water and food, upsetting the natural balance. Visitors must also remove all their own trash.

These are small but important steps in preserving this paradise. But as last month's oil spill showed, new threats keep invading the Galápagos Islands. And what of the tanker Jessica? One suggestion has been to leave it in the water and let nature turn it into an artificial reef that would serve as home to marine species.

Learn More

The following Riverdeep Current articles may be of interest:

"Iguanas Fit Their Shrinking Food Supply": Marine reptiles on the Galápagos Islands adapt to changes in their food supply.
"Remnants of a Rainforest": Brazil's once-sprawling Atlantic rainforest has almost disappeared, and many rare species are threatened.
"Fighting Oil Pollution": Several surprising factors cause oil pollution in the world's oceans and seas.
"A Perilous Journey": The population of the world's largest reptile is declining, but there's some good news from the beaches of Trinidad.
"Where Have All the Sea Otters Gone?": Back from the brink of extinction, these creatures face new dangers.

More Links

The National Science Teachers Association presents Galápagos Education, a Web site including resource materials about the islands and suggested classroom activities with worksheets. For teachers who are weighing how to teach evolution, the site includes material about evolution and creationism in the classroom.
Virtual Galápagos, an educational Web site that accompanied an actual 1996 expedition to the Galápagos Islands. The site presents daily dispatches, resource material, and an educational workbook.
The Galápagos: Pressures on Paradise, the World Wildlife Fund takes a look at the ecosystem of the Galápagos Islands and the threats that endanger it.
The Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands offers a special Web site focusing on the recent oil spill. You can also visit the main site of the official research station.

Related Resources

Get Galápagos Wildlife, by David Horwell and Peter Oxford.
Teachers of grades 5 to 8 should find a valuable resource in the book Ecology and Evolution: Islands of Change, by Richard Benz, published by the National Science Teachers Association.