Espanola Island
The Galapagos Islands rise out of the Great South Sea, which the Spaniards found when they crossed the Isthmus of Panama and went south, navigating over the wide Pacific. They are tropical Islands, lying across the equator itself, but were uninhabited in 1535 when they were first discovered. They remained without a human population for another three centuries. Located 600 miles off the western coast of South America in the empty Pacific Ocean, they are too remote and inhospitable to have attracted any permanent human settlers in all those years.
The Galapagos Islands certainly appear “out of this world”, moonscapes unchanged since primeval times constantly changed by lava flowing from newly erupting volcanoes. As one walks along the rocky shores and sandy beaches of these islands, it is not difficult to appreciate that they are a unique and unpredictable wilderness. The islands are filled with extraordinary populations of distinctive species and subspecies, which have developed apart from humans and our dominating influence.
The bio-diversity of these islands are clearly the result of the process of chance arrival and establishment of different species. If we look closely at the creatures that live here and consider the ways in which they might have reached this place, it will lead us to contemplate the extraordinary processes that have shaped the nature of life in Galapagos. A lot more questions will arise concerning this exceptional Archipelago, and only with time and research will we find the answers.
The Galapagos Islands rise out of the Great South Sea, which the Spaniards found when they crossed the Isthmus of Panama and went south, navigating over the wide Pacific. They are tropical Islands, lying across the equator itself, but were uninhabited in 1535 when they were first discovered. They remained without a human population for another three centuries. Located 600 miles off the western coast of South America in the empty Pacific Ocean, they are too remote and inhospitable to have attracted any permanent human settlers in all those years.
The Galapagos Islands certainly appear “out of this world”, moonscapes unchanged since primeval times constantly changed by lava flowing from newly erupting volcanoes. As one walks along the rocky shores and sandy beaches of these islands, it is not difficult to appreciate that they are a unique and unpredictable wilderness. The islands are filled with extraordinary populations of distinctive species and subspecies, which have developed apart from humans and our dominating influence.
The bio-diversity of these islands are clearly the result of the process of chance arrival and establishment of different species. If we look closely at the creatures that live here and consider the ways in which they might have reached this place, it will lead us to contemplate the extraordinary processes that have shaped the nature of life in Galapagos. A lot more questions will arise concerning this exceptional Archipelago, and only with time and research will we find the answers.
