History of Galapagos Islands

History of Galapagos Islands

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The Galapagos Islands, an archipelago of five larger and ten smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean, exactly under the equator. The nearest island to the South American coast lies 580 m. W. of Ecuador, to which country they belong. The name is derived from galapago, a tortoise, on account of the giant species, the characteristic feature of the fauna. Home to a spectacular variety of exotic plant and animal species, including giant tortoises, sea lions, and iguanas, the Galapagos provided 19th-century scientist Charles Darwin with a proving ground for his theories of evolution.

The islands were discovered early in the 16th century by Spaniards, who gave them their present name. They were then uninhabited. The English names of the individual islands were probably given by buccaneers, for whom the group formed a convenient retreat.

In 1793, James Colnett made a description of the flora and fauna of Galápagos and suggested that the islands could be used as base for the whalers operating in the Pacific Ocean. He also drew the first accurate navigation charts of the islands. Whalers killed and captured thousands of the Galápagos tortoises to extract their fat. The tortoises could also be kept on board ship as a means of providing of fresh protein as these animals could survive for several months on board without any food or water. The hunting of the tortoises was responsible for greatly diminishing, and in some cases eliminating, certain species. Along with whalers came the fur-seal hunters who brought the population of this animal close to extinction.

Ecuador annexed the Galápagos Islands on February 12, 1832, naming it Archipelago of Ecuador. This was a new name that added to several names that had been, and are still, used to refer to the archipelago. The first governor of Galápagos, General José de Villamil, brought a group of convicts to populate the island of Floreana and in October 1832 some artisans and farmers joined.

The origin and development of life in islands so distinctly oceanic as the Galapagos, have given its chief importance to this archipelago since it was visited by Darwin in the Beagle in 1835. The Galapagos archipelago possesses a rare advantage from its isolated situation, and from the fact that its history has never been interfered with by any aborigines of the human race. Of the seven species of giant tortoises known to science (although at the discovery of the islands there were probably fifteen) all are indigenous, and each is confined to its own islet. There also occurs a peculiar genus of lizards with two species, the one marine, the other terrestrial. The majority of the birds are of endemic species peculiar to different islets, while more than half belong to peculiar genera. More than half of the flora is unknown elsewhere.

Since 1860 several visits have been paid to the group by scientific investigators by Dr. Habel in 1868; Messrs Baur and Adams, arid the naturalists of the Albatross, between 1888 and 1891; and in 1897-1898 by Mr. Charles Harris, whose journey was specially undertaken at the instance of the Hon. Walter Rothschild. Very complete collections have therefore, as a result of these expeditions, been brought together; but their examination does not materially change the facts upon which the conclusions arrived at by Darwin.

During World War Two Ecuador authorized the United States to establish a naval base in Baltra island and radar stations in other strategic locations. In 1946 a penal colony was established in Isabela Island, but was suspended in 1959.

The first laws protecting the islands were written into law during 1934. In 1959 the islands became a national park, and the Galapagos National Park was established in 1968 to preserve the biodiversity. A total of 97% of the land space of the islands was set aside for this purpose, with the remaining 3% for use by people.

Environmental concerns surrounding the oil spill off the Galapagos Islands have brought the Ecuadorian islands to the attention of the world. On January 16th, 2001, the oil tanker Jessica ran aground off the coast of San Cristobal, the eastern-most island of the Galapagos, spilling approximately two-thirds of its 240,000-gallon cargo.