{"id":6861,"date":"2024-06-22T17:23:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T17:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.galapagosislands.com\/blog\/?p=6861"},"modified":"2025-02-24T18:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:07:54","slug":"galapagos-marine-life-endangered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.galapagosislands.com\/blog\/galapagos-marine-life-endangered\/","title":{"rendered":"\u200bGalapagos Marine Life endangered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know about the huge size of the Galapagos Marine Reserve? Its total area is of 133,000 sq. km., which is almost the size of Louisiana. In the other hand, the islands that comprise the Galapagos National Park cover just a small area of 8,000 sq. km. of wonders and uniqueness. Therefore, most of the Galapagos preserved area is a comprised by a submarine word filled with amazing species, coral reefs and many more that you can only imagine, that\u2019s why the Galapagos is considered one of the best diving destinations in the whole wide World.<\/p>\n

Because of the shallow sandy beaches, rocky shores, mangrove forests, lagoons, high vertical cliffs and coral reefs, the Galapagos is like a dream come true to every sea animal. Sea lions and fur seals can enjoy, play and sleep on the sandy beaches, crabs can run above the lava rocks while iguanas take advantage of the rock\u2019s heat, as well as coral reefs which are a great playground and haven for small tropical fishes.<\/p>\n

Due to these ideal conditions, the Galapagos waters are home to some of the most fantastic submarine species in the World, from seahorses, temporal visitors like the marine iguana<\/a>, the Galapagos penguin<\/a>, to huge whale sharks<\/a>, humpback and orcas whales<\/a>. Playful sea lions<\/a> will surround you while you go snorkeling, orcas may get really close to the dinghy ride for a great picture, while dolphins swim by the side of the boat during your cruising. The Galapagos undersea environment that holds quite a few endemic species<\/a>, which means that you won\u2019t be able to see them anywhere else in the World.<\/p>\n

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\nHowever, many of those amazing animals are threatened. Sharks, lobsters and sea cucumbers for example, are being killed because of overfishing. Luckily, many organizations as well as local fishermen are trying to reduce the fishing of these species. However there is also illegal fishing which is much harder to control. It\u2019s unbelievable but some illegal fishermen hunt tortoises for their meet and sea lions for their teeth and genitals. As weird as it may seem sea lions genitals are considered as aphrodisiac in Asia. Also, the meat, fins and oil of whale sharks as well as the fins of all other kinds of sharks are quite popular on the international markets \u2013 e.g. For shark fin soup – which in many places is considered a delight.
\nWhy do so many sharks have to be killed or die by the consequences of having their fins cut off? How can someone just cut out teeth and genitals of poor cute sea lions? Right? This has to stop!! Fortunately, the sea around Galapagos can be controlled by modern techniques and therefore unauthorized boats can be detected. But this sadly doesn\u2019t mean that the illegal fishing can be completely prevented yet. Moreover, even the few legal fishing boats endanger many marine animals not just by overfishing, but also, penguins, sea lions and turtles often experience being bycatch. They get hurt, strangled by the net or drown in this procedure because they can\u2019t get to the surface to get the needed air.<\/p>\n