Recently in The Galapagos Islands Category

In recent weeks 39 tortoises have been released into the wilds of Pinta Island, in the northern waters of the Galapagos Archipelago, as part of an ongoing effort to restore the ecological integrity of Pinta ecosystems. This release follows years of planning and will be the first time that tortoises will inhabit the island since the removal of Lonesome George, the last known Pinta tortoise, in 1972.

The return of tortoises to Pinta is considered an essential step towards re-establishing ecological processes on the island. The Ministry of the Environment of Ecuador oversaw this groundbreaking work and the tortoises' release was carried out by a team of park rangers, herpetologists, botanists, and vets--from the Galapagos National Park (GNP), Galapagos Conservancy, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), and the Houston Zoo.

GCT has supported this work and are also funding the ongoing monitoring of giant tortoises on Santa Cruz Island to understand more about their migratory patterns and behaviour.

Giant tortoises on Pinta are thought to have numbered between 5,000 to 10,000 before pirates and whalers began removing them for food. As a result of the over-exploitation in past centuries, tortoises were believed to be extinct on Pinta during much of the twentieth century. The discovery of Lonesome George on Pinta in 1971 surprised scientists and park managers alike. George was transported to the Charles Darwin reserach Station on Santa Cruz Island in the spring of 1972 to ensure his safety and he remains one of Galapagos' most famous residents.

While park rangers, scientists and the thousands of tourists who have visited Lonseome George hope that one day a mate will be discovered -- on Pinta, in a zoo, or in a private collection -- no female Pinta tortoise has yet been found. There was excitement in 2008 and 2009 when his two female companions - both from Wolf Volcano on Isabela island - both laid eggs, but sadly all of these were infertile.


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Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of the Species, The Guardian Weekly's website featured an article by GCT's chief executive, Toni Darton, on its front page.

In the article Toni describes her passion for Galapagos: "Whilst I have always taken an active interest in the natural world it was my passion for Galapagos that actually brought me to this role. I had wanted to visit Galapagos for many years and when I achieved this dream in 2005 I saw at first hand how amazing yet how fragile the Islands are and the work going on to conserve them. I signed up as a member of the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT) and the rest as they say is history."

Please click here to see the complete article.

The Charles Darwin Foundation commemorated in advance, on 30 October,  the 150th anniversary of the publication (24 November) of Charles Darwin's seminal work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The commemorative event took place at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Felipe Cruz, Director of Technical Assistance at the CDF, delivered a presentation titled "Conservation Activities in Galapagos and Challenges of the Future" during the event, in which the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the CDF were also celebrated.

The Ecuadorian embassy in the United States, represented by Ambassador Luis Gallegos, also attended the event, as did Johannah Barry, the president of Galapagos Conservancy, a Friend of Galapagos Organisation that offers ongoing support to the archipelago from the US.

Scientists have discovered three new coral species - and one that was thought to be extinct - in an extensive survey of reefs around the Galapagos Islands, raising hopes that reefs may be more resilient to rising sea temperatures temperatures than previously thought.

Professor Terry Dawson of Southampton University carried out the marine survey along with scientists from the University of Miami, covering an area that had not been studied extensively by marine biologists since the 1970s.

The three new coral species are from the genera Hydrozoanthus, Parazoanthus and Antipathozoanthus. They also found a fourth possible new species and other corals that were thought not to inhabit the waters around the Galapagos.

Coral reefs are formed by deposits of calcium carbonate left by successive generations of tiny polyps which feed off plankton. They also receive nutrients from symbiotic algae known as zooxanthellae which also give coral their bright glowing colours. As temperatures rise, the algae dies or is ejected by the polyps, which leads to coral bleaching. In 1982-83 an El Niño event killed off around 95% of the coral in the Galapagos and caused severe disruption to the marine ecosystem there. In 1997-98 ocean warming caused a second bout of bleaching.

Dawson, who published his team's findings in the peer-reviewed journal Galapagos Research last month, said that it appeared the algae might be adapting to warmer ocean temperatures. Sea temperatures in the Galapagos vary between 23C and 29C in normal years, but can rise to 30C in El Niño years.

"Our study might suggest that species are more resilient than we thought. Nature is quite capable of looking after itself," he said. "Humans have such short timescales in looking at things. A lot of coral dies off after an El Niño event. But we don't give species enough time to do what it needs to do. We worry about rapid climate change and its effects but some species can adapt to climate change quite quickly too."

Miranda Richardson

Well known actress and GCT supporter, Miranda Richardson, has confirmed her participation in the exclusive anniversary fundraising trip to Galapagos. Miranda will join Randal Keynes, Charles Darwin's great, great grandson, helping to make the cruise, departing on 24 October, truly memorable for all participants.

Miranda has been involved with GCT since 2003 but this will be the first time she has achieved her ambition to visit the Islands. A passionate conservationist, she has appeared in a number of TV programmes about conservation, including Extinct in 2006, and is a strong advocate of the need to address climate change.

Randal first visited Galapagos in 2000 and joined the General Assembly of the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) in 2004. He was elected to the Board of the CDF in 2007 and is one of the champions of the Floreana project, stressing the key importance of Floreana's unique mockingbird species in Darwin's thinking about evolution.

The cruise has been organised in partnership with the Charles Darwin Foundation, Ocean Adventures and Abercrombie & Kent

The trip includes a 7 day luxury cruise aboard the M/V Eclipse; a reception at the British Embassy in Quito; and a VIP day of special events at the Charles Darwin Research Station.

The cruise will raise funds for the Station's new visitor centre, the Charles Darwin Center for Galapagos and for the Floreana Restoration Project. There are still a few places available. For more details please email us at gct@gct.org or contact Matilda at A&K on 01242 547700.