Santa Cruz Island
Today, bright and early in the morning, we dropped anchor in Academy Bay, and we went to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station where the tremendously important breeding programs for both the Galápagos giant tortoises and the Galápagos land iguanas are undertaken. Once abundant on the islands, tortoise and iguana populations were diminished by the thousands, due to direct predation by humans and their domestic animals and habitat destruction by other domestic animals gone wild. These are now highly protected species and form part of the breeding programs that aim to restore the fragile populations.
“Dieguito” is a clear example of the efforts made by several organizations to conserve and preserve an endangered race of tortoise. This male tortoise was found in the San Diego Zoo and matched with those saddlebacks from Española Island, and now forms part of the breeding group with great success. Twenty years since this project started, over 1300 baby tortoises have so far been repatriated to the island of Española, not to mention other islands.
Land iguanas also form part of these projects, and they are doing well in the islands where several populations have been restored or at least are well on their way to being restored.
Later on, we took buses up into the highlands where we spent time playing volleyball before lunch in a local restaurant. Then we explored the area of the pit craters and lava tunnels - both very impressive geological formations.
Exploring the cloudforest of Santa Cruz in the highlands, we spotted several of the giant tortoises in the wild roaming on their own and some of them having a mud bath which is a good antidote against mosquito and tick bites.
Back to Puerto Ayora, we spent some time shopping and having a beer before coming onboard for a briefing on the following day’s adventures by Expedition Leader, Emma, and a presentation by special guests from the research station about the conservation efforts of this famous organization.
Today, bright and early in the morning, we dropped anchor in Academy Bay, and we went to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station where the tremendously important breeding programs for both the Galápagos giant tortoises and the Galápagos land iguanas are undertaken. Once abundant on the islands, tortoise and iguana populations were diminished by the thousands, due to direct predation by humans and their domestic animals and habitat destruction by other domestic animals gone wild. These are now highly protected species and form part of the breeding programs that aim to restore the fragile populations.
“Dieguito” is a clear example of the efforts made by several organizations to conserve and preserve an endangered race of tortoise. This male tortoise was found in the San Diego Zoo and matched with those saddlebacks from Española Island, and now forms part of the breeding group with great success. Twenty years since this project started, over 1300 baby tortoises have so far been repatriated to the island of Española, not to mention other islands.
Land iguanas also form part of these projects, and they are doing well in the islands where several populations have been restored or at least are well on their way to being restored.
Later on, we took buses up into the highlands where we spent time playing volleyball before lunch in a local restaurant. Then we explored the area of the pit craters and lava tunnels - both very impressive geological formations.
Exploring the cloudforest of Santa Cruz in the highlands, we spotted several of the giant tortoises in the wild roaming on their own and some of them having a mud bath which is a good antidote against mosquito and tick bites.
Back to Puerto Ayora, we spent some time shopping and having a beer before coming onboard for a briefing on the following day’s adventures by Expedition Leader, Emma, and a presentation by special guests from the research station about the conservation efforts of this famous organization.
