2. INTRODUCTION
Galapagos is a wonderful place, filled with bizarre wildlife. I
think it is one of the must see places on my list. Many of you
are probably thinking what is the Galapagos? Or where is it?
This Power Point will tell about all of the great things on the
Galapagos.
3. BASIC INFORMATION
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; and other Spanish
names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands
spread around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km west of Ecuador, which is
the country that claimed the Galapagos. It is famous for it’s wildlife.
The Galápagos islands and its water around it form an Ecuadorian province, a
national park, and a biological marine reserve. The common language on the islands
is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 23,000.
4. WHERE IS IT?
The islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 973 km off the west
coast of South America. The closest country in the mainland of Ecuador to
the east (the country to which they belong),
The islands are found at the coordinates 1°40'N–1°36'S, 89°16'–92°01'W.
The Galapagos are on both sides of the equator, so islands are located in
both the northern and southern hemisphere. But The International
Hydrographic Organization (IHO) says they belong the South Pacific Ocean.
The Galápagos Archipelago consists of 7,880 km2 (3,040 sq mi) of land
spread over 45,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi) of ocean. The largest of the islands,
Isabela, is 4,640 km2 (1,790 sq mi) and makes up half of the total land
area of the Galápagos. The Wolf Volcano on Isabela is the highest point,
with an height of 1,707 m (5,600 ft) above sea level.
The group consists of 15 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and
islets. The oldest island is thought to have formed between 5 million and 10
million years ago. The youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still
being formed, with the most recent volcanic eruption in April 2009.
5. HISTORY
The Galápagos Islands were found when Spaniard Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the
fourth Bishop of Panama, sailed to Peru to settle an argument between
Francisco Pizarro and his lieutenants. De Berlanga's ship drifted off course
when there was a storm, and reached the islands on 10 March 1535.
The islands first appeared on maps, in about 1570, drawn by Abraham Ortelius
and Mercator. The islands were called "Insulae de los Galopegos" (Islands of the
Tortoises).
The first English captain to visit the Galápagos Islands was Richard Hawkins, in
1593. Until the early 19th century, the archipelago was often used as a hideout
by English pirates who stole from Spanish sailors who had gold and silver that
was going from South America to Spain.
In 1793, James Colnett described the flora and fauna of Galápagos, and
suggested the islands could be used as for the whalers who are in the Pacific
Ocean. He also drew the first accurate map of the islands. Whalers and
maritime fur trader killed and captured thousands of the Galápagos tortoises for
their fat. The tortoises could also be kept on board ship for fresh meat , these
animals could survive for several months on board without any food or water.
Soon the turtles were almost extinct.
6. THE MAIN/MINOR ISLANDS
MAIN MINOR
Baltra (South Seymour) Island Daphne Major
Bartolomé (Bartholomew) Island
Darwin (Culpepper) Island South Plaza Island
Española (Hood) Island Nameless Island
Fernandina (Narborough) Island
Floreana (Charles or Santa María) Island
Genovesa (Tower) Island
Isabela (Albemarle) Island (Ecuador)
Marchena (Bindloe) Island
North Seymour Island
Pinzón (Duncan) Island
Pinta (Abingdon) Island
Rábida (Jervis) Island
San Cristóbal (Chatham) Island
Santa Cruz (Indefatigable) Island (Galápagos
Santa Fé (Barrington) Island
Santiago (San Salvador, James) Island (Galápagos
Wolf (Wenman) Island
8. THE FAMOUS WILDLIFE Galapagos green turtle
Galapagos Tortoise
Galápagos land iguanas, Conolophus spp.
Marine iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, the only iguana feeding in the sea
Galápagos tortoise (Galápagos giant tortoise), Geochelone elephantopus, known as Galápagos in
Spanish, it gave the name to the islands
Galápagos green turtle, Chelonia mydas agassisi, a type of the green turtle
Sea cucumbers, the cause of environmental battles with fishermen over this expensive seafood
Flightless cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi
Great frigatebird and magnificent frigatebird
Blue-footed booby, Sula nebouxii, popular among visitors for their large blue feet winch they show off
in courtship
Galápagos penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus, the only living tropical penguin
Waved albatross, Phoebastria irrorata, the only living tropical albatross
Galápagos hawk, Buteo galapagoensis, the islands' main scavenger and "environmental police"
Four common species of Galápagos mockingbirds
Thirteen endemic species of tanagers, popularly called Darwin's finches. Among them is the sharp-
beaked ground finch Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis which is sometimes called the "vampire finch"
for its blood-sucking habits, and the tool-using woodpecker finch, Camarhynchus pallidus
Galápagos sea lions, Zalophus wollebaeki, closely related to the California sea lion, but smaller
Marine Iguana
Galapagos
Penguin
Blue- footed
booby
9. HOW THE WILDLIFE GOT THERE
There are a few different ways on how the animals got to these islands.
Flyers: Flying to the Galapagos
Windsurfers: By riding the wind currents that lead to the Galapagos
Floaters: Floating, without any food or water, just float.
Rafters: Using some kind of raft, like a piece of wood.
Swimmers: swimming here, may have been looking for new habitat. (fish, sharks)
All these animals got here by using one of these methods. These were volcanic
islands, so there weren’t much vegetation. The animals had to adapt to the
surroundings. For example, the marine iguana needed to eat plants, but there isn’t
any, so they go into the water to eat algae.
Notice that there is no amphibians in the Galapagos. The thin skin of the amphibians
could not sustain them for the long journey to the Galapagos.
10. CLIMATE
Although located on the Equator, the Humboldt Current brings cold
water to the islands, causing many drizzles during most of the year.
The weather is influenced by the El Niño phenomenon, which brings
warmer temperatures and heavy rains.
During the season known as the garua (June to November), the
temperature by the sea is 22°C (72°F), a steady and cold wind blows
from south and southeast, there are a lot of drizzle for most of the
day, and dense fog hides the islands. During the warm season
(December to May), the average sea and air temperature rises to
25°C (77°F), there is no wind at all. Rain falls when the sun shines
and the rain is very strong,
Weather changes as you go higher in the large islands. Temperature
goes down gradually the higher you go, while rain increases because
of the moisture in clouds on the mountains. There is a lot of different
kinds of rain from one place to another, not only with height, but also
depending on the location of the islands, and the seasons.
11. CULTURE
Most of the men work as Fishermen which has always been an important source of income for
Galapagos families. Fishing is done on small boats. But since 1970 Galapagos Tourism is becoming
more and more an important source of income to these Islands.
In general, clothes are very similar to the ones in mainland Ecuador, people is very warm, friendly and
always willing to help visitors.
The population in Galapagos is around 18,000. Men and children love to play soccer and even more
in 2006 when the Ecuadorian National soccer team participated in the Soccer World Cup in Germany,
which they did great.
Ecuavolley or Ecuadorian volleyball is also a very common sport, it is a volleyball game but it is played
a bit different to traditional volleyball. The ball is a soccer ball and there are only three players per
team. (more info below)
Galapagos culture is a mixture between the people that came from the highlands, the Amazon Jungle
and the coast of Ecuador.
People and scientists, especially from USA and Europe have also become a part of the culture in
Galapagos and pleasantly got used to the delicious Galapagos Islands Food
People from the highlands of Ecuador tend to speak more calmly and slowly than the people from the
coast of Ecuador who speak faster and loudly.
Ecuadorian volleyball (Ecuavolley)
A volleyball variation that is played with two 3-player teams usually indoors or cement courts with a higher net (2.75m - 2.80m) and
uses a soccer ball. In this type of volleyball the basics are the same but you are allowed to slightly hold the ball in your hands before
passing it. The 3 different types of players: the placer (sp. colocador), the server (sp. servidor), and the flyer (sp. volador). The flyer
plays behind the placer and the server and runs quickly from one side to another recovering balls. Usually the flyer recovers the ball
for the server. The server sets the ball in the air so that the placer can pass the ball over the net. The placer places the ball on the
opposite court in a strategic manner, in an attempt to fool the other team of where it is going to land. This game is popular in Ecuador,
and is so popular that it is played in the United States and Europe.
12. FOOD
There is a lot of seafood and it is very popular in the Galapagos. Vocabulary of food preparation:
All kinds of fish, lobster and sea cucumber can be enjoyed in
the major towns.
Galapagos food is incredibly diverse, and it is very similar to the A la brasa: grilled
food from Ecuador. One example is pastries stuffed with spiced Al vapor: steamed
meats. Apanado: batter-fried/breaded
Some dishes from the highlands are (meat, potatoes, grains,
vegetables) as well as from the Coast of Ecuador (fish, shrimp, Brosterizado: deep-fried
yuca). Encocado: stewed in coconut
The seafood in Galapagos is spectacular and fresh. There is Frito: pan-fried
also a great variety of fresh fruit and vegetables produced in
the Islands. Hornado: roasted
Some examples are: the ceviche (shrimps marinated in lemon Reventado: skillet-fried
and onions), encebollado (a delicious soup with fish), lobsters Seco: stewed meat plate
and the famous sea cucumbers.
The Galápagos has delicious fruit juices, (jugos) including
naranjilla (a cross between an orange and a tomato), tree
tomato, mora (blackberry), guanabana (a luscious thick
aromatic sweet white juice), maracuya (passion fruit) and
papaya.
13. Kicker Rock
FAMOUS SITES
Cerro Brujo: Cerro Brujo is a very striking, worn tuff cone. The area has a bit of history attached to it as well as
this was one of the first sites visited by Charles Darwin.
La Galapaguera: This is a 4-6 hour tiring hike, but the reward is an excellent opportunity to get a look at a large
number of giant tortoises in the wild.
Kicker Rock: Kicker Rock is the remains of a vertical tuff conformation, abruptly rising almost 500 ft from the
ocean. Erosion has split the rock and given it its characteristic shape, which some see as shoe, the origin of
the name Kicker Rock.
Punta Suarez: The tourist trail is about 2km long and leads from one end of the island to the other and look
spectacular birds. There are many blue-footed boobies nesting there.
Post Office Bay a wet landing at a not very scenic location. However, it has a lot of history. In the late 18th
Century, whaling ships started to leave letters for home in a barrel. The idea was that ships on their journey
outwards would leave letters for ships that are going home to collect. The tradition has continued and it is
possible to leave postcards which will be collected by other tourists from the same part of the world and posted
by them.
Los Gemelos: These are two large craters in the middle of the island, either side of the one road crossing the
island. They are the remains of volcanic magma chambers which collapsed and the vertical sides are now
covered with vegetation.
James Bay: Located on the west side of James Island, the wet landing on the dark sands of Puerto Egas,
James Bay leads has a trail that leads inland to the remains of a salt mining operation.
Punta Albemarle located at the northern tip of Isabela, Punta Albemarle was used as a radar base by the U.S.
during World War II. As you sail past, the abandoned water tanks can be seen through a pair of binoculars. The
waters in this region seem to have a lot of animals, and there are excellent chances for seeing whales here.
14. PROTECTING WILDLIFE
Though the first protective legislation for the Galápagos was
established in 1934 and added to in 1936, but the late 1950s,
people decided that they needed to do something about what was
happening to the native plants and animals.
In 1959, the centenary year of Charles Darwin's publication of The
Origin of Species, the Ecuadorian government declared 97.5% of the
archipelago's land area is a national park,
In 1986, the 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 sq mi.) of ocean
surrounding the islands was declared a marine reserve, its size is
second in the world, right after Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In 1990,
the archipelago became a whale shelter. UNESCO recognized the
islands in 1978 as a World Heritage Site and in 1985, as a biosphere
reserve. In July 2010, the World Heritage Committee agreed to
remove the Galapagos Islands from its list of precious sites
endangered by environmental threats or overuse.
15. INTERESTING FACTS
More than sixty volcanic eruptions have been documented over the last two hundred years in the Galapagos region.
During the nineteenth century, whaling ships were a common sight in Galapagos waters. Sperm whales once swam in large
pods around the islands.
Today, orcas can be seen hunting sperm whales in Galapagos waters. Orcas also feed on Galapagos sea lions, sharks, and
rays.
Herman Melville was so fascinated with the islands that he wrote a series of essays about them in his work The Encantadas.
Charles Darwin was twenty-six when he first saw the Galapagos Islands. His observations about life on the islands eventually
led to his famed theory of evolution. His On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was published in 1859.
Darwin Island, one of the main islands in the archipelago, is named for the naturalist.
There are thirteen species of Darwin's finches endemic to the islands. These birds are famous for their beaks.
The islands' marine iguanas are only found in the Galapagos region. These are the only marine lizards found anywhere in the
world.
The notorious scolopendra centipede lives on the islands and frequently dines on lava lizards and even young rats. These
creatures grow to about thirty centimeters.
The famous Galapagos penguin is the only type of penguin to live at the equator. An endangered species, there are less than
1500 left.
Poisonous manzanillo apple trees are native to the islands. Both their fruit and sap are toxic.
The islands and their waters are a World Heritage Site.
Galapagos is divided in 3 ocean zones: A) Central and Southern Islands (most fish species), B) Northern Islands (warmest
waters), and C) Western Islands (coolest waters).
The Galapagos was rated as World's # 1 Scuba Diving Vacation destination in the Pacific Ocean by Rodale's Scuba Diving
from 2000-2002.
18. LINKS
Interactive Tour of the Galapagos
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/galapagos/ax
/main_fs.html
19. CONCLUSION
That’s pretty much everything about the Galapagos, an island
paradise, its beautiful wildlife. The Galapagos is a great place
and I hope I get to visit it sometime.
Thanks for watching!
