She always comes at night. Her victim is in a deep sleep on the military-style cot. Unheard, she climbs on top of him, slowly pressing her weight onto his chest. His dreams begin to darken as his lungs crush under the ever-increasing weight. He struggles, then wakes with a start… but he is alone, the […]
Everyone knows the sad story of Lonesome George, last of the Pinta Island Giant Galapagos Tortoises. His race was thought to be extinct until he was seen in late 1971 by some passing visitors. He was taken to the Charles Darwin Research Station, where he has remained while scientists searched on Pinta Island, in the […]
The history of Galapagos is unique and intriguing: from geological chaos that created the islands, to the whalers and pirates that decimated the tortoise population to the creation of the Galapagos National Park in 1959. But what does the future hold for the Enchanted Islands? Looking at the trends of today, we can try to […]
The HMS Beagle, with a young Charles Darwin on board, only spent about five weeks in the Galapagos Islands, which seems short when you consider the importance the visit would have for Darwin, the Islands, and science in general. Darwin kept a journal, which he later expanded into a book, The Voyage of the Beagle, […]
Galapagos is full of dazzling wildlife not found anywhere else: Giant tortoises Darwin’s famous finches and mockingbirds Hawks Snakes and more. But ask a biologist, and he or she will tell you that the most impressive native resident is the marine iguana.
For centuries, the Galapagos Islands were a remote, lawless land. Considered nearly uninhabitable by the earliest visitors, the Galapagos Islands soon became known as a good place to hunt turtles and goats, take on water and make repairs for ships.
2009 will be a big year in the Galapagos Islands, as the people of the archipelago celebrate the 200th birthday of their most famous honorary resident, British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). 2009 coincidentally marks the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Darwin’s groundbreaking book, On the Origin of Species, which detailed his controversial Theory […]
Most Galapagos visitors come and go to the Islands without much thought to the various organizations that are working daily to maintain and improve not only the tourist experience but also the lives of the thousands of people who call the islands home. The Galapagos organization that most people are familiar with is the Charles […]
Ask any Galapagos Islands naturalist, scientist or park ranger what the biggest problem facing the islands is, and he or she will likely tell you that it’s the threat posed to local wildlife by invasive species. Park officials, scientists and concerned citizens of the Galapagos Islands have spent fifty years battling these species, usually without […]
The Galapagos Penguin The Galapagos Penguin is one of the smallest species of Penguin and the only one ever found naturally north of the Equator. This endemic, flightless bird is an excellent swimmer: it will nimbly dart among the coral and rocks of Galapagos waters nipping up small fish with blinding speed. They are usually […]
