North Seymour Island
Early in the morning, at sunrise, we disembarked on the small island of North Seymour. All of us, the eager guests and curious naturalists, enjoyed a magical walk. What great satisfaction and genuine joy the natural world can evoke. From courting and dancing blue-footed boobies, to recently awakening baby sea lions and frigate birds with fully inflated, bright red pouches, our time on the island was dreamlike. Among all the sights and sounds we were especially glad to at last get up close to the land iguanas.
Galápagos land iguanas were once widespread and abundant in the islands. Many adverse factors have endangered these reptiles. North Seymour Island still supports a very small population of these large lizards. There is a wonderful conservation story surrounding them. North Seymour is located very close to Baltra Island (formerly known as South Seymour). Last century, during World War II, land iguanas disappeared from Baltra due to human activities and habitat destruction by introduced animals. An American Captain and tycoon from Los Angeles, Allan Hancock, who was both a very wealthy and curious man and a devoted patron of science, organized and financed frequent scientific expeditions to the Galápagos Islands between 1931 to 1938. He was puzzled by the interesting fact that North Seymour did not have a land iguana population even though the two islands are located close to each other and have similar ecological conditions. Captain Hancock had the idea to transfer forty individuals from Baltra to North Seymour. He knew he would be tampering with a natural situation by moving animals from one place to another, but according to his observations, the land iguanas were starving on Baltra. The Hancock Expedition transferred the iguanas in 1934 just a few years before the reptiles went extinct on Baltra. This twist of fate, criticized by some naturalists of his time, turned out to be the salvation of the original population of Baltra land iguanas. Some survivors of this experimental transfer were found years later and they are the last land iguanas from Baltra!
In 1991, 35 iguanas were repatriated to Baltra after more than 50 years of absence. These repatriated animals were the product of the titanic efforts of captive rearing programs of the original Baltra land iguanas. These programs are a combined effort of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station. I have always found this story fascinating. A combination of historical facts, conservation efforts and ultimately plain old luck all tied together to save an endangered species. Today we had the pleasure of seeing several land iguanas on North Seymour Island.
Early in the morning, at sunrise, we disembarked on the small island of North Seymour. All of us, the eager guests and curious naturalists, enjoyed a magical walk. What great satisfaction and genuine joy the natural world can evoke. From courting and dancing blue-footed boobies, to recently awakening baby sea lions and frigate birds with fully inflated, bright red pouches, our time on the island was dreamlike. Among all the sights and sounds we were especially glad to at last get up close to the land iguanas.
Galápagos land iguanas were once widespread and abundant in the islands. Many adverse factors have endangered these reptiles. North Seymour Island still supports a very small population of these large lizards. There is a wonderful conservation story surrounding them. North Seymour is located very close to Baltra Island (formerly known as South Seymour). Last century, during World War II, land iguanas disappeared from Baltra due to human activities and habitat destruction by introduced animals. An American Captain and tycoon from Los Angeles, Allan Hancock, who was both a very wealthy and curious man and a devoted patron of science, organized and financed frequent scientific expeditions to the Galápagos Islands between 1931 to 1938. He was puzzled by the interesting fact that North Seymour did not have a land iguana population even though the two islands are located close to each other and have similar ecological conditions. Captain Hancock had the idea to transfer forty individuals from Baltra to North Seymour. He knew he would be tampering with a natural situation by moving animals from one place to another, but according to his observations, the land iguanas were starving on Baltra. The Hancock Expedition transferred the iguanas in 1934 just a few years before the reptiles went extinct on Baltra. This twist of fate, criticized by some naturalists of his time, turned out to be the salvation of the original population of Baltra land iguanas. Some survivors of this experimental transfer were found years later and they are the last land iguanas from Baltra!
In 1991, 35 iguanas were repatriated to Baltra after more than 50 years of absence. These repatriated animals were the product of the titanic efforts of captive rearing programs of the original Baltra land iguanas. These programs are a combined effort of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station. I have always found this story fascinating. A combination of historical facts, conservation efforts and ultimately plain old luck all tied together to save an endangered species. Today we had the pleasure of seeing several land iguanas on North Seymour Island.
