WFS Galapagos Islands : Day 7 - Santa Cruz Island and Tortise Breeding Center

Today was the last day on our boat, the Guantanamera. In the morning, we visited the Charles Darwin Station with our guide. The Charles Darwin Station is involved with research and conservation efforts in the Galapagos and includes a breeding center for giant tortoises. Due to human activities, the population of giant tortoises in the Galapagos has decreased 90 percent in the past two hundred years. The Charles Darwin Station is trying very hard to recover the tortoise population on all of the islands. As we walked in to the station, we immediately noticed baby tortoises ranging from six months old to one year old. They were tiny compared to adult tortoises, but about the same size as pet turtles. They had to be kept in pens and cages because their shells are not yet very strong, and feral rats can easily kill them. However, as we moved on, we saw a much larger area with rocks and plants growing, and slightly larger tortoises were kept there. Their shells were hard enough to protect them from the rats. The tortoises were fed differently from normal pets. The workers at the Charles Darwin Station change the position of the food every week, so the tortoises have to walk through rocky terrain to find food, just like in the nature. This is because the tortoises will eventually be returned to nature. If these tortoises were instead treated as pets, they would not survive if returned to their natural environment. As we moved on, we finally got to see some adult tortoises. They were huge! Unfortunately, most of them were kept as pets their whole life, so they have lost their natural instinct to look for food. As a result, these adult tortoises cannot be returned to nature. Overall, the breeding program has been very successful. For example, the population of tortoises on Espanola has been increased from merely twelve to over two thousand. Also, some breeds of tortoises that were thought to be extinct were found on the northern end of Isabella, which is very good news.

In the afternoon, after we moved in to our new hotel, the Pelican- Bay Inn, we went to Tortuga Bay, which has a very nice beach. The sand was smooth as silk, very easy to walk on. There were two areas on the beach, one area had a strong surf, and another section that was calm like a swimming pool. I enjoyed the swimming after the long hike to get to the beach. Unfortunately, the beach closed at five, (the sun sets at six) so we only spent one hour at the beach.

by Hank Feng