Galapagos – Research (before I began endnagered species )
This is an e-mail I sent 9/26/04 to tor5@mit.edu:
Our two islands, Floreana and Hood (aka Espanola) are
pretty small. Hood is completely uninhabited mainly due to the fact
that it has no source of fresh water. Birds use Hood as a nesting
ground, and many also stop there on their migratory roots (I have a list
of birds that can be found on Hood -- mainly ones that can only be found there
or on only on Hood, plus a few other islands). There are tours are
Hood, but it involves a wet landing, and there is only one trail to follow
(and a guide is required). Snorkeling, swimming, walking, and birdwatching
are usually what tourists do. I think someone mentioned this in class
before -- the waved albatross community is what the island is particularly
famous for because you can't find this bird on any of the other islands.
There are also a few marine iguanas, sea lions, blue-footed and masked
boobies, saddle-back turtles (almost disappeared, but saved due to work
from the Charles Darwin Research Foundation), as well as a huge array of
sharks, fish, etc. .. in the surrounding waters. Just as a interesting
side note; Hood has vegatation similar to where I come from (ex: Palo Verde,
Saltbrush, and Acacia), so I'm guessing the climate/weather is similar
to that in Tucson, Arizona, except Arizona doesn't have much of the lava
rock.
Floreana is a small island,
and it has one hotel where tourists can stay. I don't know how accurate
this is, but I found there are only about 70 real residents on the island,
and the rest are tourists. This island has plants such as Palo Santo,
Cutleaf Daisy, and Mangroves -- a little less like a desert compared to
hood. Mangroves, as far as I know, grow in saltwater or freshwater,
and usually are located between a prairie type of land (tall grasses, etc.
. .) and a more forest-ish kind of place. This still sounds kind of
like a desert, but not as much as Hood. There are restuarants on the
islands, and I assume that the people who live on the island are mainly concerned
with tourism as a form of living, but I’m still researching so I’ll get back
on that. Floreana has many of the same animals as Hood, but an important
animal to note is the penguin (Galapagos penguin, found on only a few other
islands). The hotel is $45 to $80 dollars a night (from what I've read)
and once you are on the island it doesn't sound like there's tons to do
as far as tourists are concerned, so I get the feeling they get a good number
of tourists, but not that many, and they only stay for a couple days or
so.
Helpful sites (I got a lot of the above info from)
<<http://www.galapagosguide.com/islands>> for tourists
type info which was surprisingly informative
and
<<http://www.birdforum.net/thedirectory/>> for a list of
birds on the Galapagos (or you could ask me because I got them all highlighted)
So there's what I've found out -- probably a lot
of you have found similar stuff, and if you haven't, here it is so you won't
have to waste time looking it up. I'm doing over-exploitation of natural
resources -- my sub-categories might be along the lines (mainly dealing with
Floreana): alternate forms of energy (is solar a possibility and what do they
use now), fresh water (does it need to be rationed and do they need to bring
it in to the island?), possibly poaching (with respect to the saddle-back
turtle; why did it almost go extinct? poaching? invasive species?
diseases?), possible effects of people on birds on Hood, uses of resources
on Floreana to maintain tourism (construction? building materials? .
. . this might not really be an issue) and after that, I was having trouble
figuring out topics that you guys might not have already covered, or what
we need to cover with our islands. If anybody has any questions on what
their topic should be, voice them to the group, and maybe we'll have to rearrange
topics a little more . . . or something like that . . . have a good day,
and I hope you guys can use this info!
Allison
My Notes: (these are dealing with sea cucumbers . . . then, my research
topic switched, and I posted what I researched on the issue here for now)
-sea cucumbers are a delicacy in Asian markets; other fisheries have collapsed
to the high demand, and now Galapagos is being hit – grossly over-exploited
-absence of sea cuc.s may hurt food web more than we know
-not only in the sea, but also on-shore processing plants that disturbs
environment, paving the wave for invasive animal/plant species to settle
in (black/brown rats, fire ants, etc. . .)
-market for cuc.s is high –“gold rush,” and competition rises with
local fisherman; uncontrolled immigration of fisherman to Galapagos “increasing
unemployment and crime” ; local fishermen held hostage Charles Darwin
Research Station, “misdirected anger, the fisherman have killed 30-40
giant tortoises” in Feb. 5, 1995 “fires set by humans” ( in protest) caused
severe amounts of damage
-if they collapse, then markets will try to stay afloat, and attack
other resources (sharks, sea urchins, moray eels, sea turtles, and sea lions)
-conflict between national gov’t and locals, “conflict between conservation
and development”
-not much known about sea cuc.s, but according to Marine Biologist
David Pawson, they are ‘earthworms of the sea’ -- feed on detritus
and “turn over sea floor,” species would take a long time to recover
-evidence of population decrease everywhere, but not much regeneration,
“in over 100 hours of diving in the vicinity of fishing, they [biologist]
had seen no juveniles”
-IMPORTANT QUESTIONS raised in the article (no answers . . . yet!):
“How should the impact of the sea cucumber fishery in the Galapagos
be tracked?
What countries and / or companies are financing the processing ships?
Will additional sea cucumber fishing be allowed?
Will other commercial activities be allowed?
Is there an alternative, non-harmful commercial use for the fishing
boats?
How much would it cost to buy the boats of the fisherman who have moved
to Galapagos, and resell the boats in a coastal market? Would the government
be willing to ban new fishing boats in the Galapagos?”
-inconsistency considering Ecuador
gains more from tourism, than fishing
-Galapagos Coalition formed to inform public/world – important to inform
people!
From:
<http://www.law.emory.edu/PI/GALAPAGOS/EnvironmentalFrameset.html>
To be looked at:
Title: Galapagos: Paradise in peril
Source: National geographic [0027-9358]
yr: 1999 vol: 195 iss: 4 pg: 2
I’m going to look in the library, and see if they have this one
--More notes--
From:
Found on <http://proquest.umi.com/>
Anonymous. Too many people. The Economist. London: May 10, 1997.
Vol. 343, Iss. 8016; pg. 44, 1 pgs.
-in 1997, the Galapagos was bringing in 60,000 tourists a year; “tourism
is Ecuador’s fourth-largest dollar-earner.” (pg. 1 online)
-my question; is Floreana being affected by immigration?
-many immigrants are catching and illegally selling (indirectly) to Asian
market which considers sea cucumbers, shark fins (soup), and turtles (for
soup) delicacies.
-needs clear rules about where, when, how much can be fished – that’s
part of the problem
-some immigrants are there for fishing, while others are there for the
benefits of tourism
-politicians have used the images of people just-getting-by with the
over-zealous conservationist, and created tensions where, in reality, they
could work together, and benefit from each other
-Salvador Cazar, director of Ecuador’s Association of Ecotourism in 1997,
said “Legislation must make it clear that conservation is the basis for
the Galapagos.” (pg 2 online)
Recent News!
Found: <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document>
International News
“Park Rangers in the Galapagos Islands close tourist spots to protest
ouster of reserve’s director”
Copyright: 2004
Association Press Worldstream
September 15, 2004
-tourist islands spots (including Floreana) are closed due to protests
of the park rangers
(about 300) due to the new appointment of Fausto Cepeda as the new park
director in place of Edwin Naula (“who held the post more than a decade ago”
pg. 1 online).
-protestors are opposed to the new park director because they think that
he was chosen by the president “because he is friendly to commercial fishing
interests opposed to catch limits for the lucrative sea cucumbers” (pg.
1 online)
-environmental groups have positioned themselves behind the old park
director, Naula
Notes on News –
James, Victoria. “Paradise maintained” The Japan Times. 12 October 2003
<< http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20031012a3.htm>>
9/28/04
-“Of the thirteen extinctions that have occurred since the discovery
of the Galapagos, alien species and human activity are responsible for 11.”
-measures have been taken; goats have already been eradicated from Espanola
-El Nino had a rather severe effect on the Galapagos – it is natural,
but this time it exacerbated the problem already present due to the affect
of humans/introduced species
-“vegetation became rampant, benefiting land bird
and reptiles – but sea birds and marine species were hit hard” online
pg. 2 . . . Hood! our poor island!
-marine iguanas suffered because their non-toxic algae
(that they normally eat) was disappearing and they were forced to eat the
other kind which is toxic; breeding seasons of sea birds (including waved
albatross, penguins (Galapagos penguins!), and boobies ) failed; “90 percent
of sea lion pups born in 1997 died of starvation due to the absence of
sardines in Galapagos waters” online – pg 2
-wet, El Nino conditions allow some invasive species
such as rats and mice to flourish, and in this case, they would “prey on
penguin eggs and chicks” pg 2 online
-one possible solutions to at least some of the problems on the Galapagos
involve smoothing out the bumps in the disagreements between the conservationists
and the people who live and work on the islands.
-many people have not grown up in the Galapagos – many are immigrants
-educating the people about conservation and what it is really about
is a good idea; the local people need to know that the conservationists
are actually working to preserve not only the Galapagos, but also the people’s
way of life since they live off of the resources of the islands
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