In dry scientific terms, the Galapagos are 13 volcanic islands, which appeared as a result of almost incessant volcanic eruptions at the bottom of the sea. In addition, the archipelago includes 6 islands of non-volcanic origin and 107 rocks and small islets of land that were washed away by the waves of the ocean.
According to scientists, which can not be considered a reliable data, the first island of the world-famous Galapagos, appeared about “only” 7 million years ago. This suggests that the Galapagos Archipelago, by certain standards, can be called relatively young. By the way, the two islands, which have beautiful feminine names Fernandina and Isabela, are still in the formation stage, and what they will be in a few hundred years, it is difficult to predict. The fact is that volcanoes are constantly erupting at depth beneath them, which means that these islands are constantly growing.
The total area of the Galapagos today is almost 8,000 square kilometers, they are considered an integral part of the state of Ecuador. The islands are home to about 30,000 indigenous people, although it is difficult to calculate the exact number of Galapagos inhabitants: most of them are almost constantly at sea or lead a hermit’s life on one of the rocky islands. It is impossible not to mention that the Galapagos Islands got their name in honor of … the water turtle, or rather, the water turtles: galápagos – Spanish word in plural, literally translated into Russian as water turtles. This is practically the end of the data, which will interest scientists, geologists, historians and volcanologists.
Further Galapagos cannot be described using only scientific terms and data, which, by and large, will be of little interest to a simple layman or a tourist, who decided to go to one of the most amazing places on our planet. To the place where the well known scientist Darwin “discovered God”.
More precisely, it was in the Galapagos Islands where Darwin “discovered” evolution on our planet. I would like to point out right away that only ardent admirers of Charles Darwin’s teachings adhere to such a point of view. Virtually all historians agree that the famous theory of evolution was formed much later. And Mr. Darwin only used the knowledge gained in the Galapagos in his work.
“It’s all very easy for me to explain now! What I saw in the Galapagos Islands, namely animals and plants, are not found anywhere else on the planet. However, many species bear some resemblance to those found elsewhere in the world. This means that evolution does occur everywhere, almost in an orderly and identical fashion,” or so Charles Darwin wrote in his notes. Quite a strange theory, isn’t it? Yes, yes, these are the kinds of inferences that make up most of the theory of evolution, to which an overwhelming number of scientists are now already skeptical.
History of the Galapagos Islands
To say that the history of the Galapagos Islands is anything remarkable, naturally, except for its origin, would be too presumptuous. Galapagos was discovered by a Spanish priest, in the spring of 1535. This is not surprising, at a time when Spain was in its heyday, the state often equipped various research expeditions led by ministers of the church, because they were supposed to bring the word of God to unenlightened people.
The unique islands belonged to Spain until 1832, when they were annexed to Ecuador. Until 1936 the islands, which were far from the mainland, served as a place where convicts served their sentences, most of them dying of various diseases or simply becoming savages. In 1936, the Ecuadorian authorities, realizing the wealth that lay very close to them, declared Galapagos a National Park, where the rich flora and fauna were under vigilant protection. In 1978, the Galapagos Islands became a landmark year, they came to the attention of UNESCO, recognizing them as a world heritage site. This is the short and mostly unremarkable story the guides tell numerous tourists.
The Flora and Fauna of the Galapagos Islands
Alas, it is almost impossible to describe in one article the richness of flora and fauna that can be found in the Galapagos. It is only worth mentioning that the vast majority of the animals and plants that can be found on the volcanic islands, in the coastal zone and on the cliffs are endemic. This says only one thing, they are not found anywhere else on our planet. Naturally, the symbol of the Galapagos Islands is the marine iguana, which is shown in almost all TV programs devoted to this unique archipelago. It is the only iguana that spends most of its time in the depths of the sea. At the same time, being cold-blooded, she is forced to bask in the sun. She does it with the greatest pleasure on the coastal rocks: she is not afraid of any waves, because the tenacious claws help her to hold on and take a sunbath even on very slippery rocks.
When describing the endemics of the island we should not forget about the Galapagos cormorants, buzzards, holothurians and sea lions: all these animals, as well as many others, live only on the Galapagos. Numerous attempts by scientists to spread them to other isolated islands, where conditions were almost identical, ended in failure.