We try to keep this page as up to date as possible, however there is always some delay and it is worthwhile checking other sites with Galapagos News as well.
The following sites also have News about Galapagos:
http://www.darwinfoundation.org/english/pages/index.php
http://www.galapagospark.org/noticias.php
http://www.savegalapagos.org/news
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Job Vacancy-Introduced Species Expert
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Galapagos News #32
Galapagos News no. 32 (1.4 MB) -
Shark tagged at Galapagos Sets New Migration Record for the ETP
Shark tagged at Galapagos
May11, 2011
Puerto Ayora, GalapagosThe Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), a founding member of the Migramar network of scientists focused on the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), and the Mexico-based research group, Pelagios, have identified a new shark migration record for this oceanic region.
In April, the Pelagios team found records of a silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) in the surrounding waters of Clipperton Island, 2200 km distant from its tagging location at Wolf Island in the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR). This charts the current record for shark migration in the Eastern Tropical Pacific monitored by the Migramar network.
The record-setting female silky shark, measuring approximately 1.9 meters in total length, was tagged with an ultrasonic chip in the Wolf Island anchorage in March of 2010. The shark remained in GMR waters for approximately two months where it was last detected on May 1, 2010. Since then, its whereabouts remained unknown until its September 18, 2010 detection off Clipperton Island, where it remained for one month. These appearances were recorded via ultrasonic receivers placed by Migramar throughout the ETP.
Ongoing for four years, the shark-tagging project in Galapagos is a joint program of the CDF, the Galapagos National Park (GNP) and the University of California-Davis. It facilitates the capture of biological and ecological data to enhance conservation of ETP pelagic biodiversity. Among the species currently under investigation are whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis), silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis), and black-tip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus).
Although this individual is the only one of its species to be tagged thus far, its Clipperton registry supports the theory of a shark migration corridor within the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The Migramar network has successfully tracked the movements of hammerhead sharks between the Galapagos, Cocos and Malpelo islands in the heart of the ETP, but never before outside this zone. It is postulated that Clipperton Island serves as a midway resting place for pelagic fish along their migratory routes between the northern and central ETP. Clipperton Island is the only coral atoll in the ETP and is located approximately 1100 km from Tejupan, Michoacan, Mexico. It is a French possession administered by French Polynesia.
Pelagios conducts a shark-tagging project in Mexico’s Gulf of California and Revillagigedos Islands, as well as Clipperton Island. Migramar is a scientific network that studies the behavior, site fidelity and migrations of pelagic species such as sharks, rays and sea turtles.
In Galápagos, this project benefits from the support of Lindblad Expeditions, the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Swiss Friends of Galapagos.
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AGM: Chairman’s Report October 2010
AGM: Chairman’s Report October 2010 (29.5 KB) -
Obituary Don Merton
It was with immense sadness that we learned of Don Merton’s death on April 11th 2011, Don was the first Patron of Friends of Galapagos New Zealand, and even though he did not know the islands well, he was fully aware of the similarity of the problems faced by wildlife in Galapagos and New Zealand. Kiwis have been very much involved in helping to rescue many species in Galapagos, and much of the knowledge and understanding of the techniques and strategies used, came for Don and his colleagues at the Department of Conservation, and before that the Wildlife Service. New Zealand, Galápagos and the world is a poorer place without him.
Obituary Don Merton (33 KB) Obituary Don Merton (33 KB) -
Galapagos News # 31
The latest copy of Galapagos News is now available for download:
Galapagos News no. 31 (4.7 MB) -
Galapagos News #30
The latest copy of Galapagos News is now available for download:
Galapagos News no. 30.pdf (2.3 MB) -
A new decade
A new decade is well underway - so I thought it worth reviewing a few of the existing conservation programmes in the Galapagos, and some of what was achieved so far.
It is easy to look at the problems and forget how much is being achieved. New Zealanders have played an important role in many of these programmes, and Friends of Galapagos will be focusing on channelling NZ expertise into them.
Conservation isn’t often about doing new and exciting and very different things. It’s about the continuing daily slog to keep programmes running, improve them, and slowly add to them. Stability and continuity are essential, and all too often staff in the Galapagos struggle to achieve that against a background of constant political change. That there have been relatively few major reversals is a reflection of that dedication.
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Quarantine
When I first visited the Galapagos at the beginning of the last decade, there was only a fledgling, relatively ineffective quarantine system. Since then they have become a core government function, built a public service agency (SESA) with purpose-built offices, and expanded from simple hand inspection to the use of x-rays. Although they still have some serious weaknesses (difficulty inspecting military and VIP traffic for example), my conclusion last time I looked at the system was that it had greatly reduced many of the most significant risks for Galapagos fauna at least.
Take the movement of birds, for example. Fighting cocks and other domestic birds were frequently brought in. Legal movements have now stopped, and smuggling is probably infrequent. That has slashed the risk of the introduction of bird diseases such as avian malaria and West Nile Virus. We only need to look at what happened in Hawaii when Avian Malaria arrived - most of the endemic terrestrial birds in the lowlands disappeared - to see what it would do to the Galapagos. And the Galapagos does not have highland refuges to minimise the damage.
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Pest eradications
Ten years ago no-one in the Galapagos thought that major pest eradications were feasible. Today they can look back on the largest goat eradication in the world, eradication of several plant species (something many international commentators still say can’t be done), eradication of cats from Baltra, eradication of a fire ant population on Marchena, and rat eradications. Those eradications have not only provided new opportunities for conservation, but have built confidence and enthusiasm for eradications as a core tool. I am sure we will see more eradications over the next decade.
This trend is not restricted to the Galapagos, and their experts are now sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with other island groups. Two Galapagos experts were invited to participate in the recent workshop on the Juan Fernandez Islands in Chile, and Galapagos projects will be presented at the February international eradication conference in Auckland.