Magical Galapagos
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Charles Darwin's voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, we would probably never treasure the Galápagos archipelago as we do today. It was here that the Father of Evolution observed the islands' numerous endemic species and drew up the fundaments of his game-changing theory of evolution by natural selection, which he published in 1859 as the iconoclastic treatise "On the Origin of Species".
Lying 973 km off the coast of Ecuador, the 18 major islands straddle both hemispheres, being scattered both north and south of the Equator.
The archipelago encompasses three smaller islands as well as 107 rocks and islets. Many centuries before
Darwin's visit, the islands were described to the Western world in 1535 by the Dominican friar Fray Tomas de Berlanga, who landed there by accident, blown off course on a voyage from Panama to Peru. It was De
Berlanga who first described the islands' unique landscape and fauna. Interestingly, credit for charting the first navigable course to the islands is owed to the 17th century English pirate, Ambrose Cowley. Today the islands, with a primarily Spanish-speaking population of over 25,000, constitute an exclave of Ecuador.
It is both a national park and a biological marine reserve, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The islands are rich in marine wildlife and seabirds, as well as species unique to the region including the Galapagos Land and Marine Iguanas, Waved Albatross, Galapagos Giant Tortoise, Galapagos Penguin, Galapagos Sea Lions and the curious Flightless Cormorant. Whales use the islands as a migration corridor. In recent years, environmental threats in introduced plants and animals have endangered the ecological stability of the islands, and for this reason they are closely monitored and protected.
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Sea lions swim near San Cristobal at Galapagos Marine Reserve.
Iguanas are seen at Punta Albemarle in Isabela island at Galapagos National Park
A giant tortoise is seen on a road at Santa Cruz island at Galapagos National Park
A scuba diver swims next to a Leather Bass close to Wolf Island at Galapagos Marine Reserve.
A tuna swims among a school of fish as a scuba diver looks on at Galapagos Marine Reserve.
A hammerhead shark swims close to Wolf Island at Galapagos Marine Reserve.
A Zayapa red crab perches on a rock at Punta Albemarle in Isabela island at Galapagos National Park.
Tourists ride a boat as they look at the pinnacle rock at Bartolome Island in Galapagos. Picture taken using fish eye lens.
The skeleton of an iguana is seen at Punta Albemarle in Isabela island at Galapagos National Park. Picture taken using a fish eye lens.
A scuba diver watches a shark close to Darwin Island at Galapagos Marine Reserve.
The ruins of a former U.S. World War II era base are seen at Punta Albemarle in Isabela island at Galapagos National Park.
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So this is the birth place of "Darwin's Evolution" eh...?
Looks really pretty...
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