Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos Islands might be the single best love-at-first-sight solution for what I call “complacent nature deficit disorder.” These are islands of instant gratification, where you’re almost guaranteed to encounter the cerulean foot of a blue-footed booby, the Godzilla-like gaze of a marine iguana and the lumbering girth of a giant tortoise.
Galapagos Islands
First, whales. One morning in September, we woke up earlier than usual. We had been navigating overnight toward Bartolome Island, and our guides, Roberto and Giancarlo, had prepared us for possible whale sightings on the final leg of our voyage. We bundled up and stood on the top deck, hot cups of coffee in hand.
Nature & Wildlife
Some tiny birds on remote Scottish islands are undergoing a dramatic evolutionary transformation. Four isolated populations of British wrens have grown astonishingly large. At the other end of the scale, however, leopards in South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region have become much smaller than most African leopards.
Conservation
Over the last century, Earth’s wild places have seen startling declines in biodiversity. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, around one million species are currently at risk of extinction. The main cause? Human activity.
Latin America
The Galapagos offers close wildlife encounters—from blue-footed boobies and sea lion colonies to giant tortoises that move slowly across arid highlands. But the islands are only part of the story. The Galapagos Marine Reserve spans an area nearly six times larger than the landmass of all 21 islands combined.
Galapagos Islands
If you have ever wondered what the secret to longevity is, look no further than species that have inhabited Earth for centuries. Many are ocean-dwelling, though a few land animals have evolved to live far longer than humans. These long lifespans are often linked to slow metabolism, stable environments and limited predation.
Galapagos Islands
If you’re a lover of books (or a bibliophile) like me, you’ll appreciate Charles Darwin, the biologist famous for his Theory of Evolution that was formulated while visiting the Galapagos Islands. Arguably the most influential man of science in history, Darwin accumulated a vast personal library throughout his working life.
Galapagos Islands
By Tracy Schuh, Front End Web Developer at Natural Habitat Adventures First, let me tell you that being immersed in nature is my happy place, especially if water is involved. I am a Cancer, you see, and my existence is aligned with my aquatic crab sign.
Conservation
By Lorin Hancock, Lead Specialist of Media and External Affairs at WWF As a communications professional at WWF, my primary purpose is to motivate and inspire people to act to make the world a better place. But I have a confession: sometimes, it’s difficult to stay positive. You’ve seen the news.
Nature & Wildlife
From birds to flowers, the majority of the Earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary “explosions,” where new habitats or traits sparked rapid diversification. These bursts, in fact, explain most of the planet’s biodiversity. Some of those new habitats were ignited by glaciers.
Conservation
By Alyssa Corasanti, WWF The Galapagos Islands, situated in the Pacific Ocean, are renowned for their diverse ecosystem.
Conservation
By Abel Valdivia, WWF Lead Marine Conservation Scientist The Galapagos Islands, a remote tropical paradise nested in the heart of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, have long been a beacon of ecological marvels, an evolutionary laboratory and ground for scientific discovery.
