GALAPAGOS CULTURE

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS WERE OFFICIALLY DISCOVERED BY FRAY TOMAS IN 1535. HIS SHIP WAS SWEPT OFF COURSE. GALAPAGOS IS SPANISH FOR SADDLE AFTER THE SADDLEBACK TORTOISES.

BY 1500'S PIRATES AND BUCCANEERS WERE REGULARLY HIDING HERE. IN 1680'S BUCCANEER USED THE ISLAND FOR TO ATTACK THE SPANISH. IN 1684 COWLEY CHARTED THE ISLANDS IN 1790 THE FIRST SCIENTIST CAME HERE FROM SPAIN. THEN WHALERS CAME HERE FROM SPAIN THEN WHALERS ARRIVED FROM ENGLAND THE FOLKS HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON THE ISLAND THEY CAUGHT SO MANY WHALES.

IN 1813 A U.S. CAPTAIN CAME TO DESTROY THE BRITISH WHALING FLEET WHICH THEY DID! IN 1832 THE GALAPAGOS WERE ANNEXED BY EQUADOR AND COLONIZED. THERE WERE MANY STORIES OF TYRANNY, SLAVERY, AND MURDER.

CHARLES DARWIN ARRIVED AS A NATURALIST IN 1835. HE MAPPED THE COASTLINE AND HIS FINDINGS INSPIRED HIS THOUGHTS ON EVOLUTION. IN THE EARLY 1900'S MANY SETTLERS AND SCIENTISTS CAME FROM OVER THE WORLD. BY THE 1930'S PEOPLE/SCIENTISTS NEEDED PERMITS TO COLLECT ANYTHING. IN 1959 THE GOVERNMENT OF ECUADOR DECLARED ALL AREAS WITHOUT HUMAN POPULATION TO BE A NATIONAL PARK. IN 1959 CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS WAS SET UP IN BRUSSELS. IN 1968 THE EQUATOR GOVERNMENT BEGAN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL PARK.

LARGE SCALE TOURISM STARTED IN THE 1970'S WITH A 58 PASSENGER VESSELL. TODAY THERE ARE MAJOR CITIES AND A NATIONAL PARK WITHOUT ANY SIGNS OF HUMAN DESTRUCTION. MANY HUNTERS, WHALERS, AND PIRATES HAVE REDUCED THE ANIMAL AND SEALIFE POPULATION. HISTORICALLY THEY PUT GOATS HERE TO BREED AND THAT WAS A DESTRUCTIVE THING. MANY SCIENTISTS CONTRIBUTED EXPLOITING THE ANIMALS BY COLLECTING SKINS, ETC. TODAY ATTEMPTS ARE BEING MADE TO REVERSE THE SITUATION.

THIS ISLAND HAS UNIQUE FLORA AND FAUNA. BY 1964 CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION WAS BUILT. BY 1974 A MASTER PLAN WAS FOR VISTOR CENTERS AND TOURIST BOATS. THERE IS A GROWING NUMBER OF TOURISTS. BY 1979 UNESCO DECLARED THE ISLAND AS WORLD HERITAGE SITE. OVER 60,000 TOURISTS COME HERE EACH YEAR.

THEY CAPTIVE BRED SOME OF THE TORTOISESAND IGUANAS. SOME DOGS HAD TAKEN THEM . SEVERAL HUNDRED TORTOISES ARE BEING RAISED FOR THE NEXT GENERAQTION. ORNITHOLOGISTS ARE STUDYING THE DARWIN FINCHES. IN 1997 THEIR AIRSTRIP WAS EXTENDED SO JETS COULD COULD ARRIVE DAILY. THEIR APPROACH WAS TO LET TOURISTS SEE THE BREEDING ANIMALS AS A LIVING LAB. THEY BUILT AN EDUCATION CENTER IN THE RESEARCH STATION..THE VISITOR'S NED TO STAY ON TRAILS AND NOT INTERFERE WITH WILDLIFE THEY ALSO ESTABLISHED A MARINE RESERVE.

IN THE 1900'S Q MARKET FOR THE SEA URCHINS OPENED IN THE ORIENT FOR USE AS APHRODISIACS. MANY ILLEGAL CAMPS WERE SET UP ON THE ISLAND. EVENTUALLY THIS COLLECTION WAS OUTLAWED!
BY 1977 A DRAMATIC CHANGE OCCURRED. LOCAL RESIDENTS PETITIONED WITH ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR LOCAL SENATOR AND PRESIDENT. BY 1998 A NEW LAW WAS PASSED AND RATIFIED BY CONGRESS. IT ADDRESED IMIGRATION, RESTORATION, QUARENTINE OF ORGANISMS AND FISHERIES,

THE MARINE RESERVE WAS LEGALLY PROTECTED. THE RESERVE WAS EXTENDED AROUND THE ARCHIPELIGO. ONLY TOURISM AND LOCAL ARTISANAL FISHING PERMITTED HERE. NO COMMERCIAL FISHING WAS ALLOWED. GOOD PROTECTION FOR SEABIRDS, MARINE MAMMALS FISH AND SHARKS.

IT COSTS $100 TO GO INTO THE PARK. IT GOES TO REDUE REDUCE INTRODUCED SPECIES OF ALL KINDS AND IT IS THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE NATIVES.

SELECTLATINAMERICA.COM