How are Galapagos Islands protected?
WWF spearheaded conservation efforts in the Galápagos, including funding the construction of the Charles Darwin Research Station. In 1998, the Ecuadorian government enacted the Galápagos Special Law, a legal framework to protect the Galápagos, and created the Galápagos Marine Reserve.
Can you live on Galapagos?
The Galapagos Population Today – Do people live on the Galapagos Islands. Currently, four islands are inhabited, with a total of around 30,000 inhabitants. The largest ethnic group is Ecuadorian Mestizos. Puerto Ayora of Santa Cruz island is the town with the largest population, holding 10,000 people.
How will climate change affect the Galapagos Islands?
Climate change predictions As the Galapagos Islands are located near the equator, it is likely that temperatures would rise by the global average. This would mean that the water surrounding the Galapagos Island would also get warmer, affecting marine species significantly.
What is El Nino Galapagos?
During an El Niño event, the Galápagos is geographically positioned in the heart of the warming ocean waters. The change in water temperatures can affect the marine life directly. Upwelling from the Equatorial Undercurrent, for instance, is reduced during an El Niño, reducing the food supply in the near-surface waters.
What happened as a result of sardines disappearing from the Galapagos?
After 1997, sardines weren’t present in the archipelago, and Nazca boobies were forced to forage primarily on flying fish. As a result, fewer chicks survived, meaning that fewer adults will be at the colony to breed in the future.
Why are the blue-footed disappearing?
A cartoonish character in the avian world, the blue-footed booby is known for its vivid webbed feet and its high-stepping mating dance. But the birds have mostly ceased their hypnotic moves on the breeding grounds of the Galápagos Islands, causing an alarming drop in their numbers.
Why are the blue-footed boobies disappearing?
Over the course of the recent Galápagos study sardines represented less than half of the boobies’ diet. This suggests the birds find their current, low sardine diet sufficient to live but insufficient to breed successfully. “We think the main factor behind the decline is a scarcity of food,” Huyvaert said.