Entries categorized as ‘Galapagos Ecuador Latin America’
September 1, 11:08 AM
Oklahoma City Travel ExaminerTerry Zinn
In Spanish, Galapagos, is related to the word saddle, which describes a certain shell shape covering the land tortoise found on the islands by early Spanish explorers. Saddle could not be a better metaphor for the whole Ecuadorian and Galapagos soft adventure experience. A bucket list favorite for travelers, there’s no better time than now to saddle up for the adventure ride of your life in the Galapagos Islands.
It can not be overstated how important your choice is of a tour company when taking an international trip. The details they know how to handle can make or break your travel experience. Ecoventura (www.ecoventura.com) is heartily recommended for their ease of booking and prolific communication to the myriad of questions and requests I had.
Ecoventura is committed to green travel, as exemplified by their newly outfitted 20 guest yacht the M/Y Eric complete with wind turbines and solar panels to supplement energy needs. Even the local frigid birds join in, as they fly above the ships wind turbines – an anachronistic sight!
Read More…Go To Source…
Categories: Cruising · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Tourism Ecotourism
Tagged: Cruising, Ecotourism, Galapagos Ecuador Latin America
By Daily Mail Reporter
1st September 2009
Biologist Sarah Darwin sets sail today on an amazing voyage of discovery around the Galapagos Islands to trace the footsteps of her famous forefather – the great evolutionist Charles Darwin.
Her great-great grandfather Charles changed the way we view the world and his theories are at the centre of her remarkable recreation of his journey on the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Sarah is embarking on her ambitious round the world expedition with her husband and two children.
Setting sail: The clipper Staad-Amsterdam will carry Sarah Darwin and the crew on their voyage of discovery to the Galapagos Islands
They will follow the route of Darwin’s Origin of Species starting from the same British port where he set sail on his pioneering journey 178 years ago.
‘This whole thing is going to be fascinating experience for me,’ added Sarah.
‘We have been exposed in recent years to grand statements about the planet but I hope this will be a proper forum involving international views.
‘The whole point about science is getting it into the public area and we hope that it what this voyage will achieve.
‘We are going to pretty much all the places that Darwin went to and following the same route.
‘For me it will be a very moving and incredible feeling to be in remote places that my great-great grandfather was in 180 years ago.’
Read More…Go To Source…www.dailymail.co.uk
Categories: Charles Darwin · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Inspiring Blogs & News
Tagged: Galapagos Ecuador Latin America
Henry Nicholls is the editor of Galápagos News and the author of Lonesome George: The Life and Loves of a Conservation Icon. Go To Source…www.timesonline.co.uk
It may have taken him 80 years but George the lonely Galapagos giant tortoise has finally emerged from his shell
The thought of a wrinkled octogenarian trying to make babies is somewhat unsavoury — unless we are talking about Lonesome George, the Galápagos giant tortoise, the last of his kind and hence the world’s rarest living creature. Last month, one of two females with whom George shares his enclosure laid a clutch of eggs, triggering widespread speculation that George was about to become a dad.
Since 1971, when a snail biologist came unexpectedly face to face with this large male tortoise on the remote island of Pinta, in the north of the Galápagos archipelago, George has shown a remarkable talent for setting the news agenda. His discovery sent ripples of excitement around the Pacific island group, which lies some 600 miles off the west coast of South America. Two centuries of culinary exploitation by pirates and whalers had taken their toll on all 15 Galápagos tortoise varieties, and those on Pinta — and a couple of other islands — had been assumed to be extinct.
George, the first tortoise seen on Pinta for more than 60 years, proved otherwise. In March 1972, wardens from the Galápagos National Park shipped him to the central island of Santa Cruz, where he has remained ever since at the Charles Darwin Research Station, waiting for some bright scientist to find a way to coax his special set of genes into the next generation.
George does not have the most encouraging of reproductive records. In the early 1990s, after almost two decades in solitary confinement, he was given a new enclosure and some company in the shape of “Female No 106” and “Female No 107”. These tortoises had been sourced from Wolf volcano on Isabela, the closest island to Pinta, the idea being that hybrid hatchlings would be better than no hatchlings at all — although, given that George may live to be 200, there was no point in rushing things. To the frustration of his matchmakers, though, George had something more important to do than procreate. He was busy building a brand.
(more…)
Categories: Environment Conservation · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Inspiring Blogs & News · Marinelife Wildlife Fauna
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:11 AM on 13th August 2009
Mosquitoes hitching lifts on boats and planes are threatening unique wildlife on the exotic islands which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, scientists said today.
Aircraft are routinely introducing the insects to the Galapagos Islands’ ecosystem, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Scientists said the mosquitoes had the potential to carry diseases lethal to many species on the islands in the Pacific.
Categories: Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Marinelife Wildlife Fauna · RED FLAG !!! · Research · Science · Tourism Ecotourism
Press Release Submitted by neraksells on Wednesday, August 26 2009
Annual World Savers Award in the category of Cruise Lines. Ecoventura president Santiago Dunn to accept the honor at the 3rd Annual World Savers Congress in New York City on September 21.
Body of press release:
For Immediate Release
Conde Nast Traveler Names Galapagos Small Ship Expedition Company Ecoventura Winner of 15th Annual World Savers Award
MIAMI, August 26, 2009 – Ecoventura is the winner of Conde Nast Traveler’s (CNT) 15th Annual World Savers Award in the category of Cruise Lines, announced Santiago Dunn, Ecoventura president. This award recognizes Ecoventura’s ongoing mission to be the pacesetter for responsible tourism in the Galapagos Islands.
Dunn will be on hand to accept the award on Sept. 21 at the third annual Conde Nast Traveler World Savers Congress at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The Congress expects to draw some 200 CEOs of major travel industry companies.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized for our past efforts but our groundbreaking work on setting the bar for responsible tourism in the Galapagos has just begun,” reflected Dunn. He has been instrumental in addressing a variety of environmental issues that have put the Galapagos on UNESCO’s World Heritage sites at risk list in 2007, citing the introduction of alien species and the negative impact of growing tourism and immigration as key problems.
“Ironically,” said Dunn, “booming tourism in the Galapagos has added to the challenges and problems faced by those looking to restore and protect the island’s native species and ecological balance.”
Ecoventura’s focus on ameliorating conditions in the Galapagos yielded the company the highest score of 90 points in the category of Cruise Line from the panel of judges. The company was noted as outstanding in four distinct areas:
• Education: For granting scholarships to Ecuadorian students interested in environmental and marine conservation.
(more…)
Categories: Environment Conservation · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Tourism Ecotourism
By Dan Shapley
Woodpecker finch Photo: Sonia Kleindorfer
When Charles Darwin first came upon the Galapagos Islands, he wasn’t as impressed with the diversity of bird life he found there as is widely believed. It was later, at home, that his observations of the beaks of finches led him toward his revolutionary theory of evolution. Still, the finches of the Galapagos have an unparalleled place in the minds of conservationists.
Now, on the island of Santiago, the fourth largest in the Galapagos Archipelago, a bird resurgence is poised to begin. And it’s all because of goats.
More accurately, the decline in local finches resulted from the feral goats released on the island in the 1920s. In their first 70 years, they chewed through every bit of brush on the 226-square-mile island (that’s about the size of Manhattan and Galveston islands combined). In their wake: grass … and fewer birds.
The story of the Galapagos is that similar species developed unique adaptations to living on different islands, each with different habitats. The woodpecker finch, on Santiago Island, learned to use a twig, stick, or cactus spine as a tool to dislodge grubs and insects from trees.
Categories: Environment Conservation · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Marinelife Wildlife Fauna
By Katie Scott
|27 August 2009 |Categories: Science
British researchers have found several new species of life – and some that were thought to be extinct – during an in-depth study documenting some of the world’s rarest and most fragile coral reefs.
A team from the University of Southampton’s School of Geography has spent three years in the Galapagos Islands studying the reefs of the northern Wolf and Darwin Islands as part of the government-funded Darwin Initiative project.
Professor Terry Dawson led a team of 16 scientists who used cameras, tapes, quadrats and waterproof computers to survey the underwater landscape. They also employed a robotic vehicle to explore the depths at which normal scuba equipment can’t be used.
Read More…Go To Source…www.wired.co.uk
Categories: Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Marinelife Wildlife Fauna · Research · Science
Photo by Pete Oxford
From a die-hard ecologist’s standpoint, the unequivocal answer is simple:
No.
Tourism invites hordes of people to trample over the delicate island ecosystems, the ever-growing industry attracts migrant workers to join an already unsustainable population which combined with the gaggle of visitors usurps the Galapagos’ limited resources. Not to mention the extensive fossil fuel-frying air travel you’ll most likely have to undertake to get here.
And yet—show me a naturalist who claims he wouldn’t love to see firsthand the rampant biodiversity that inspired Darwin, and I’ll show you a flaming-pants liar.
Herein lies our conflict.
An Ideal Galapagos……
Read More…Go To Source…treehugger.com
Categories: Environment Conservation · Galapagos Ecuador Latin America · Tourism Ecotourism
