Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Islands

Galapagos Islands are located in the east Pacific, exactly at the equator, 973 km off the west coast of South America. The islands cover an area of 8010 km² from 1⁰4^’N – 1⁰36^’S and 89⁰16^’ – 92⁰01^’W. There are total 18 islands in Galapagos. 

The islands are known for the large number of volcanic craters and Endemic Species which led ‘Charles Darwin’ and his team to study them and discover the theory of natural selection after their station in the islands for 5 weeks in 1835. After studying the Specimen of finch (now known as Darwin’s Finch) and Giant Turtle (both species differed with the islands) he presented his theory ‘The Origin of Species’ explaining natural selection and evolution of species. At first he thought that the birds on different islands were unrelated so he didn’t bother them to mane them with the name of the islands. When the various specimen of bird brought by his ship was studied in London, it was found that the birds are different species of finch. This made Darwin to think of the theory of natural selection.

The island is thought to be first visited by Dominican Bishop ‘Fray Tomas De Berlanga’ in 1535 when his boat was blown by wind and accidentally reached the island. At that time, no sign of humans were found on the island except some artifacts and potsherds, which suggested that South Americans might have visited the island before. But there were no sign of permanent settlement by humans since no graves of constructions were found. After the island was first found, it was known to be used by pirates as a hideout.

When the Galapagos Islands were given space in the map for the first time, they were suggested to be used by whalers. After this, the island became a post office and a station for Whalers to stop for repair work. The first man to have a permanent residence on the islands was ‘Patrick Watkins’ in 1807 that was trapped on Island Floreana (one of the Galapagos Islands). He survived by hunting and growing vegetables and selling them to the approaching whalers. He stayed there till 1809 when he finally managed to steal a boat and escape from the islands. After whalers, Galapagos was used to imprison convicts and was exploited by colonizers.  Presently, Galapagos is used and preserved by tourism and Travel agencies for generating revenue.

Galapagos is one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Underwater World’ and is also one of the few places in the world which do not have an indigenous population. In the absence of Natural predators, Galapagos is basically a peaceful place but today its wide variety of endemic species are facing great danger from the animal and plant species willingly or unwillingly introduced by humans on the islands. Goats, cats, rats, dogs, cattle, etc. have a high reproduction rate, but in absence of natural predators, they are outnumbering the native species hence overtaking their habitat. Most native species of Galapagos have evolved to be defenseless in the lack of competition. For this reason they are prone to hunting by cats, dogs and rats. Few turtle species of Galapagos didn’t reproduce for over 50 years in the mid twentieth century. Plant species brought by humans are also eliminating the habitat of native wild plants. Now the human population of Galapagos is around 25,000 as declared in 2006 census.

Credits: Image Source- Google Images