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According to a study published by researchers from the University of Western Australia, nearly half the vegetation canopy in at least one part of the Galapagos Islands is comprised of non-native shrubs, trees and grasses. The study focused on the humid highlands of the island of Santa Cruz, the most populous of the Galapagos Islands.
The taxidermied remains of “Lonesome George,” the last Pinta Island giant tortoise, will go on display later this month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. After George was discovered on Pinta in 1972 scientists spent decades trying, without success, to get him to reproduce in captivity.
Whale sharks are frequent visitors to the Galapagos Marine Reserve. They can grow to forty feet in length and can weigh as much as 47,000 pounds, making them the biggest fish in the sea, by a long shot.
If you’re a fan of NPR’s Radiolab, you may have already heard the episode they put out earlier this year about the Galapagos Islands. If you haven’t heard it, and you have any interest in the islands (or natural history, science or conservation in general), then it’s definitely worth an hour of your time.
Dr. Godfrey Merlen is an English biologist who has called the Galapagos Islands home for the last forty years.
Roberto Plaza always dreamed of living in the Galapagos. Seven years ago he finally made the leap and moved his family from Ecuador’s capital of Quito to the Enchanted Isles. And they did it in a big way: Roberto and his family live off the grid.
As a contributor to this blog and the director of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association, I do my best to stay on top of what’s happening in the islands.
The number of blue-footed boobies, one of the most iconic Galapagos bird species, has declined by 50% in the last 20 years, according to a recent study published by biologists from Wake Forest University in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology. “It is alarming,” according to lead Professor Dave Anderson.
“The fact that we were able to work with these birds, which are the top predators in their habitat, and reveal some answers to fundamental questions in biology shows why such places should continue to be preserved.”
Recently, we had the chance to catch up with Swen Lorenz, the Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), which operates the Charles Darwin Research Station on the island of Santa Cruz, about his organization’s work, why the Galapagos Islands matter, and what it’s like living in paradise.
Jonathan Weiner’s Pulitzer Prize winning “The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time” turns 20 this year, and there is a rumor that a special anniversary edition is due out soon.
For the first time ever, conservationists in the Galapagos Islands have hand-reared a species of bird in an effort to save it from impending extinction.
