A Worthwhile Adventure
By Nadia Kijanka
Like the journey to Isabela, setting out to dive Tortuga Islet 30 minutes off the main island proved to be tumultuous, but well worth the trouble. After having to wrap my feet in plastic bags to squeeze through the 1.5 millimeter wetsuit, clinging to my seat because we went airborne every time the boat hit a five-foot wave, shivering below the overcast sky, and power-peddling through see-saw waves that pulled me away from my group, I was skeptical the turnout of marine life would compensate for the diving conditions.
But to my delight, as soon as we descended 50 feet below the treacherous surface, I found myself swimming in the center of a vortex of fish, sea turtles, sea lions, five-foot white-tipped sharks and 10-foot hammerhead sharks. The sea felt like bathwater, thanks to the wet suit. The fish stared at me a few inches from my mask, more fascinated with me than I was with them. Sea lions shot through the water, scoping the holes in the lava reef where the smaller fish hide. The sharks dipped in and out of the murky distance, sneaking up towards us and turning away at the last terrifying minute. The current carried us alongside the slope of lava formations to our right and the vast blanket of open water to our left, stringing us through one spiraling parade of life after another.
People say that it’s a whole different world under the sea, but in the Galapagos the sea isn’t a world apart, it’s the world that sustains the one on land. The making and maintaining of the both the terrestrial and marine ecology truly starts under the sea. The Humboldt and the Cromwell currents, stroke the islands’ reefs, showering them with the nutrients on which the marine ecology depends. These cool, seasonal currents lure a mix of tropical to temperate fish—a diverse buffet for the leading predators of the coasts—the sea lions, sharks, and larger fish.
While swimming in the vortex, you can expect to see yellowtail surgeonfish fin to fin with gray grunts, porcupine fish next to kingfish, and needle fish with parrotfish, silvers and grays intermittently shuffled with bright yellows, reds and blues, all catching to the eye. Like the mainland animals, the marine fauna have a harmonious coexistence through symbiosis, in which several species living together mutually benefit off one another, according to dive master Maximo Cartagena of the Isabela Dive Center. During the day, the sharks peruse the shores so the remoras, or tiny fish, clean the microbes off their skin. Snails hitch rides on sea turtles’ backs. Schools of fish sway carelessly with the current, unafraid of their predators, since the sharks only hunt at night. While I was underwater, only one sea lion broke the peaceful trend, as he poked around the coral holes to snack on a few smaller fish. This natural flow of resources, starting with the currents, eventually trickles into the mainland. According to Michael H. Jackson’s "A Natural History," “Sea birds must fish, as did most of the human residents before tourism, and the marine iguanas dive to graze the algae…From the flies that feed on the sea lion carcasses to the hawk that eat marine iguanas and the owls that take storm petrels, the webs of life on land and in the sea are inextricably intertwined.”
It is not easy to make a switch from one career to the next, either. “Professions are not just something you can jump into,” Ortuño said. To be a fisherman, for example, you must be a permanent resident of the Galapagos Islands and have a father who was in the industry as well. After 10 years of being a fisherman, Cartagena successfully transitioned to being a dive master, thanks to international and government supported programs. Even with those, the change was tough. “Out of a class of 15, maybe four will continue on to practice the occupation,” Cartagena said. According to him, while tourism on land has been going for eight years in Isabela, scuba diving and snorkeling are relatively new, only about 4 years old.
The marine ecology has a huge bearing on the past and future of the Galapagos Islands. It is both the starting point for the life of the islands and sometimes the stronghold that bears the majority of their decline. As development and tourism grows on the islands, efforts are being pooled together to maintain the marine ecology and the underwater experience for people. I agree with Jackson when he says, “What little we can see of life in the sea is so different from our experiences on shore and so beautiful that we cannot fail to be enchanted yet again.” Every dive is worth the try.
Additional reporting by Nellie Gopaul
The Day of the Child
“The Day of the Child,” explains INFA social worker Sara Ruiz, “is a day to celebrate the child, and to call attention to their rights.” Indeed, the signs the children have made read “Educating us with love” and “For a better Isabela," referring to the Galapagos island on which they live. INFA, which roughly translates to The Institute for Children and Families, is a “public organization with a social purpose,” according to their literature. Their mission is to “guarantee the rights of girls, boys and adolescents en Ecuador so they can fully exercise their citizenship in terms of freedom and opportunity.” Three departments operate within INFA: The Center for Infant Development, which seeks to ensure adequate care and nourishment for infants ages six months through four years; The Center for Involvement, which organizes activities for elementary through high-school children; and The Center for Protection, which deals with abuse cases.
Day of The Child is the work of the Center for Involvement’s efforts. INFA workers in towns throughout Ecuador have coordinated with their local schools to make the festivities happen, according to Ruiz. In Isabela, for example, the children marched from their school, Jacinto Gordillo, through downtown and then back to school again. Back at school, students posed for pictures and hung their signs before heading into their classrooms for further festivities. The sixth-graders headed down to the beach with their cake and soda, while the younger students stayed at the school to consume their treats. “There will be no learning today,” laughs school director Angel Bulta.
Bulta practically beams as he talks about his school: “It was started six years ago, and I am now in my third year being the director. Every year, it grows a little bit more. We try to do more things.” There is even talk that more grades will be added soon, though more than likely, they will be the beginnings of a new high school, not a continuation of Jacinto Gordillo.
From the outside, the school’s facilities seem pretty basic: the courtyard is the open gravel space between the upper and lower elementary classrooms, each classroom is actually a standalone round building roughly 20 feet in diameter, and the table adjacent to the snack hut seats four. What goes on inside the classroom walls is of course, much more important. The school employs a full-time English teacher for the 150- or so elementary students, and has one teacher whose job is solely to educate the children about Isabela’s environment. They also, according to Angel, teach the students about tourism, so they will know how to receive Isabela’s many visitors. All this is in addition to teaching the usual subjects of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.
Except on The Day of the Child. The rest of the day was filled with games, singing and general merriment. For sixth-grader Kenlly Caiza, the best part of the day was going to the beach with his classmates. They spent the afternoon playing a game of Shark, in which one student (The Shark) has to catch everyone swimming to the far end of the inlet. The last one caught is dubbed the winner, but becomes the shark for the next round. “It was my favorite part of the day,” grinned Caiga. “Swimming underwater to avoid becoming the shark was a lot of fun.” INFA wouldn’t have it any other way.
Isabela, Galapagos: My New Jerusalem
by Nadia Kijanka
While millions of Muslims, Jews and Christians make pilgrimages to Israel in search of spiritual clarity, it was the flora and fauna of Isabela Island, Galapagos, that helped me shed the scales from my eyes. Upon arriving to this volcanic desert, I had felt waves of depression leftover from the loss of my best friend, escalating family feuds, and the quintessential quarter-life crisis that often accompanies recent graduates. But as I walked through the guided tours of the brackish lagoons and lava fields of Los Tintoreras, and snorkeled with the sea lions in the bay, I could feel my heart climbing out of its well of despair, much like how the sandy lightfoot crabs and marine iguanas climb up the lava rocks from the sea. Emerson would agree with me when I say there is nothing more soothing for the soul than to immerse it in nature, and Isabela Island sheds light on the divinity that still exists in this baffling world.
Isabela’s flora whispered a message of perseverance. Like God, these plants don’t reveal their grace so easily. Their symbolic roots lay hidden, their beauty cloaked in dull grays and browns. They are shrubs to the eye but mirrors to the soul.
In the brackish lagoons, flora does not bedazzle, it unfolds. The first plant I encountered, ironically, was the manzanillo tree, or the “poison apple tree.” Just as I was about to touch one of its tiny apples near my toe, I heard the guide say it was covered from bark to fruit in poisonous sap that would burn even upon a light brush. “You don’t want to climb this tree,” Daniela Iglesias, a tour guide with the National Galapagos Park, said.
Likewise, I was surprised when she pointed to a branch that drooped with needle-thin leaves, barren of flowers buds, a measly offering to the eye in comparison with the mangroves busting with leaves, and heralded it the Jerusalem thorn. Like the manzanillo, this plant carries biblical undertones that stirred my memories of faith. I was surprised to bump into such an internationally known plant on my journey through one of the most remote corners of the globe. Legend has it, according to Marion Bowman’s The Holy Thorn Ceremony, that the Romans used this very plant to make Jesus’ crown of thorns. “It is hard to believe,” Bowman says, “that this first flowered in Glastonbury…Somehow it symbolizes not only the Christmas hope of Christ’s incarnation but also the indestructibility.”
Later, I crossed paths with the Palo Santo, or the “holy tree” that hides its fruit more than it bears it. According to Michael H. Jackson’s A Natural History, “during the dry season, it is gaunt and leafless with pale grey bark. Its leaves appear, together with the flagrant flowers, for a brief time during the rainy period.” Despite its appearance while standing, its fallen branches burn like frankincense, a priest’s delicacy for anointing. Isabel’s flora whispered a message of perseverance. Like God, these plants don’t reveal their grace so easily. Their symbolic roots lay hidden, their beauty cloaked in dull grays and browns. They are shrubs to the eye, but mirrors to the soul.
On the lava rocks of Los Tintoreras, a scattering of scenic islets in a pristine bay, I encountered sights of peace and tranquility. Just as the New Testament prophesizes the lions will lie down with the lambs, so do the lava lizards sunbath on the very heads of the marine iguanas. They piled together on the lava rocks, cuddling like lovers. Neither species seems to mind, Daniela told us. “The lizards eat the dead skin off the iguanas. So the iguanas get a cleaning and the lizards get lunch,” she said. White tipped sharks are known to pass on penguins and sea lions. “All the Galapagos animals eat fish, and there’s enough to go around so rarely are they each others’ prey,” Daniela said.
Instead, they play together. Baby sea lions nip at the sharks’ tails, and the sharks shake them off like a frustrated parent does to a child tugging at their pant legs. Down by the bay, yellow warblers prance about the backs of a sleeping sea lions, and blue-footed boobies sit side by side with pelicans. No corner of earth could better resemble the New Jerusalem than the Galapagos. The animals coexist like godly brothers and sister, save the invasive species, like rats, dogs and goats. It’s as if nature is telling us, a balance is possible, an equilibrium attainable. Humans are often the ones who determine the shifts back and forth, for better or for worse.
And so I realized, life unfolds as clandestinely as the flora and fauna of Isabela Island. If you look close enough, if you listen, you will find the natural grace blossoming in every situation. More often than not, the powers that might be present you with a choice—take an easy way out and be depressed, or keep searching, digging, and hoping for the beauty. Though the plants might seem dull and the animals remote, the mysterious life forms on Isabela Island beckon you to peer beyond the surface and find the beauty that does not flaunt itself, but sustains itself in, through subtlety and grace. The unique ecology of this corner made it thus far, what other proof do you need that you can do the same.
Galapagos: Conservation meets Development
By Nellie GopaulFor many, the word “biodiversity” conjures up images of lush, dense rainforests, home to rare and exotic animals. It is a word used in conjunction with those out-of-the-way places where environmental scientists conduct very important research, and other people spend their hard-earned and long-saved tourist dollars. For others, however, the word “biodiversity” is much more personal - it is the home in which they live, the home whose resources must be capitalized on and depleted in order to provide their living.
“Galapagos tourism represents a total value of $418 million, of which $63 million enters the local economy”, according to a 2006 report by Conservation International. That tourism is the main pillar of the Galapagos economy and numerous locals depend on the revenue tourism brings. Tourism dollars sustain locally-owned businesses, employ guides, support restaurants and bars and purchase locally-made handicrafts in the Galapagos.
Unfortunately, certain problems have arisen as a result of the influx of visitors. Cruise ships and cargo vessels may unwittingly contain invasive species of plants and animals which eventually take hold in Galapagos’ unique ecosystem. Currently, The Galapagos Islands have 748 species of introduced plants, compared to its 500 species of native plants. Roughly 60 percent of 180 endemic plants, plants found nowhere else in the world, are now considered threatened by the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species. An increase in visitors also means increased demand for fuel, potable water and food. Marine life, such as lobster, sea cucumber and grouper, is dwindling, and at an unsustainable rate. If tourism continues unchecked, the Galapagos Islands are at risk of losing their most precious natural resource: their incredible biodiversity.
Solutions to the unique challenge of preserving the Galapagos Islands while supporting the important tourism industry must satisfy all sectors involved. Laws intended to promote or protect one part of the equation sometimes do so to the detriment of another part. In 1998, for example, a law was passed to enable to Galapagos National Park Service, which began operating in 1968, to protect and conserve the islands and surrounding ocean. Restrictions were put in place on various fisheries, which made it harder local fisherman to make a living. “We are not interested in breaking the law,” explains Francisco Otuño, a fisherman on Isabela Island for over 25 years. “But if you close one area, then open up a different one so that we can make a living.”
Conservation efforts promoting responsible tourism seem to working, at least in the terms of retaining the archipelago’s natural wonder. The Galapagos, which are made of five large islands, nine small ones and a variety of large rocks and small inlets, still retain 95 percent of its original biodiversity. And despite centuries of exploration and travel - the first humans were deposited there in 1535 after strong ocean currents carried Bishop Fray Tomas de Berlanga of Panama and his crew on a rather circituitous route from Panama to Peru via the Galapagos Islands - the giant tortoises, lizards, sea lions, penguins and other wildlife still remain unafraid of man.
Long after the first visitors were brought by sail and traded island-grown vegetables with pirates for rum, the Galapagos Islands seem to have taken on almost a mythological status. No where else in the world do sharks, penguin, sea lions and turtles coexist peaceably in the same waters. If the Galapagos islands can continue to keep the footprint of the human presence to a minimum, then the world will be able to appreciate its natural beauty for many more years to come.
NATURALLY ISABELLA
By Nellie Gopaul
The long and sometimes arduous journey to Isabela Island in the Galapagos helps explain why it is less frequently visited than some of the other islands. The least densely populated of all the islands, it is perhaps one of the Galapagos’ best-kept secrets. Full of unspoiled natural beauty and rarely-seen exotic animals, Isabela rewards its visitors with open arms and pristine beaches.
Isabela is actually comprised of five sporadically active volcanoes, and remains a relatively unspoiled place to live, work or play. It has only one real town, Puerto Villamil – where Henry and his family disembarked – with a population of roughly 2,000 people. Tourism is the backbone of this former fishing village’s economy, and luckily for los Americanos, the U.S. dollar is the currency in Ecuador.
Tourists get their first hint at the natural wonder that is Isabela in the shallow waters of Puerto Villamil’s dock. Here the Galapagos sea lion, with its playful nature and lack of fear around humans, first makes his appearance. Descended from the California sea lion, the Galapagos sea lion is endemic to the islands and spends its days hunting for fish, playing with other sea lions, posing for passersby, and sneaking up on unsuspecting tourists. It is not uncommon to catch a glimpse of these lively creatures swimming on their backs in order to thrust their flippers into the air. This helps regulate their body temperature; as the sun beats down or a breeze circulates cooler air around the exposed flippers, the sea lion can heat or cool itself. “We were snorkeling near the dock, and the sea lions were swimming all around us,” exclaimed first-time visitor Andrea Raetegui. “It was really cool.”
For a bit of leisurely sightseeing, vacationers can head to the Galapagos National Park’s Wetlands Preserve, which is the only part of the National Park you can visit without a certified guide. In the wetlands preserve, marine iguanas, white-cheek pintail ducks, yellow warblers and lava lizards search for shelter and sustenance, unfettered by the sounds of human footsteps approaching. Mangroves help filter the brackish lagoons, and the poisonous Apple tree offers shade to passersby. Also located in the wetlands preserve is the Arnaldo Tupizo Chaimandan Tortoise Breeding Center. Visitors can observe caretakers tending to the Galapagos tortoises, from which the islands received their name, and learn more about these unhurried creatures through interactive displays. Two of the five tortoise species found on Isabela are considered endangered, and the Breeding Center is working hard to change that.
A little farther out, Galapagos penguins, white-tipped sharks, turtles, stingrays, sea lions and snorkelers peacefully occupy the same body of water. The biggest agitation, according to National Park Guide Daniela Iglesisas, occurs when the sea lions impishly decide to play with anything in its proximity. They have even been known to take hold of the sharks’ tails with their mouths and jerk the sharks around! Isabela is one of the better places in the Galapagos to spot the Galapagos Penguin; occasionally seen around other islands, they are most often sighted in and around the waters of Isabela and Fernandina, the only two islands where they breed.
For a drier outing, the Wall of Tears can prove an excellent half-day adventure. Outdoorsy types may enjoy the 5-mile bike ride there, but arranging for a taxi is also customary. Back in the 1940s, shortly after WWII ended, 300 prisoners headed toward Isabela, condemned to a life of backbreaking manual labor. They slept on a concrete foundation built for the US troops that had been based there during the war and erected several pieces of lumber and tarp to serve as their only protection from the elements. The prisoners hauled large chunks of rock from the surrounding mountainside, and over time, constructed the first wall for the prison that would eventually house them. Only that first wall was assembled; the penal colony was closed in 1959, after most of the convicts escaped to somewhere near Panama. That wall is now named the “Wall of Tears,” since so many men died while working on it. “What struck me about the Wall,” recalls 20-something Nadia Kijanka, who hails from Coral Springs, Florida, “is how much the Wall relates to the unfinished things we all have in our lives: an unfinished project, a dropped class, a failed relationship. We all have our own Wall of Tears that we suffered through but may not have turned out the way we wanted. But it’s comforting to know that the story still goes on, good or bad, and that you’re remembered for the work that you do.”
The many visitor sites on Isabela provide something to do for the relaxed vacationer, the adventurous sightseer and anyone in between. Its flora and fauna are like nothing anywhere else on this earth. When little Henry Pinto returns home, he will have more than a protective father to cling to during the bumpy boat ride back to civilization. He will have memories of a dream come true.
An Introduction to the Galapagos
By Andrea Reategui
Approximately 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador exists a chain of islands known as the Galapagos, from their original name of Insulae de los Galopegos, (Islands of the tortoises).
These islands present a treasure chest of evolutionary information for scientists. There are 13 volcanic islands, and each has its own variation of endemic species, some similar to species on other islands, but each unique. Charles Darwin took notice of this detail. Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution by natural selection after he visited this unique archipelago. Simply put, the variations of characteristics in a population of any species is dominated by the characteristics that best adapts to the environment. Because the environment is subject to change, dominating phenotypes, or genetically passed traits, may shift accordingly.
For example, finches seen in the Galapagos have beaks that vary in size. Each finch specializes in eating different types of seeds, something that allows them to coexist. When trees with big seeds are flourishing, finches with large beaks are the most abundant, and finches with medium and small beaks are less abundant. As the seasons shift and trees with smaller seeds begin to flourish, the dominant phenotype shifts to the small-beaked finch, and the finches with large beaks become less abundant. Another example could be seen in the tortoises. Tortoises that feed on higher vegetation have saddle-shaped shells allowing them to reach the higher vegetation. These tortoises would not be able to inhabit the same niche as those which feed on lower vegetation and have dome shaped shells. The saddle shaped shells would be unable to maneuver through the habitat because their shells would get caught on the branches of the underbrush.
The multitude of different tortoises is only the beginning. The wildlife found in the Galapagos is astonishing. One can find a variety of boobys, frigate birds and the famous Darwinian finches. Visitors can approach the iguanas, tortoises, and seals like they can no where else. This may be in part because of the lack of human contact these animals have had or because strict national park regulations that prohibit humans from hunting or otherwise disturbing the animals. The large variety of marine life is a result of a cold upwelling that brings nutrients to the coastal environments of the islands. The animals roaming the waters range from baleen and toothed whales to roughly 750 species of fish, of which about 17 percent are endemic to the Galapagos. This amazing assortment of wild life is part of one the most pristine ecosystems found today.
The Galapagos Islands were established as a National Park by the president of Ecuador. It was a big step in terms of conservation, and one which might help to keep the remaining 95 percent of the archipelago’s species intact. However, the increasing tourism is becoming a gateway for invasive species.
Cruise ships full of tourists can bring larvae of new species in their ballast tanks. Ferries and other boats that come from the mainland bring roaches and rats. Inhabitants bring cats and dogs which get loose and prey on native birds and other animals throughout the islands. As tourism increases so does the need for more diesel, drinking water, and food. If tourism continues to increase, the ecosystems may fall victim to pollution and all the invasive species that get brought over.
The islands play an important role to help widen views on sustainable development and conservations methods that can be applied in other parts of the world. Overall, the Galapagos Islands are a treasure for the world to behold and learn from.