Moby Dick's Herman Melville knew whereof he wrote. He sailed aboard whaling ships as a crew member in the Pacific. His voyages took him to the Galapagos Islands where ships hunted offshore in the rich, cold waters and provisioned with fresh turtle meat and water. The feral goats, pigs, and cattle that still roam the islands are a legacy of early European visitation. Before the whalers, English pirates used the islands as a hideout from which they could prey on Spanish galleons. On early charts the island group was labeled "Las Encantadas" because often they were shrouded in mists and low clouds. Strong currents made navigation difficult and the islands appeared to float silently pass ships struggling to make way. Melville doubted whether any other spot on Earth could be as desolate as this volcanic archipelago. Even in this age of space exploration, as you sail around Cerra Azul volcano on the biggest island of Isabela, you are thankfully out of cell phone range. No one can hear you except your shipmates. On the equator and 1000km west of Ecuador, the isolation of the Galapagos is the main reason for its unique and diverse natural history. This factor more than any other allowed animals and plants to adapt to conditions unique to each of the 13 major islands The adaptive variations in four species of Galapagos mockingbirds were carefully observed by Charles Darwin. His 1835 voyage as naturalist on HMS Beagle to four of the islands changed man's understanding of the world and his place in it forever. Their isolation has ended.Tourism has changed the Galapagos and not necessarily for the better. Tourism began as a trickle in the 1960s. There was only one airport on Baltra, abandoned by the Americans who had built a base to protect approaches to the Panama Canal during WWII. Now there are two airports and four flights a day from the mainland. In 1970 a master plan developed for the Galapagos estimated 12,000 tourists a year could be accommodated without impacting the environment. One hundred forty thousand visited last year. Puerto Ayora, the tourist business hub on Santa Cruz has grown from a fishing village of 2,000 people in the late 1950s to 18,000 living in a bustling tourist hot spot with streets lined by trinket and T shirt shops, bars, Internet cafes and hamburger joints. A conservative growth estimate of 5% per year means Puerto Ayora will be small city of 50,000 by 2020 if left unchecked. When my motor yacht anchored in the small harbor to resupply, I counted 15 tour vessels at anchor and numerous private sailing vessels. The dock was a zodiac traffic jam at 6pm when visitors returned to their boats after visiting the captive breeding tortoises at Darwin Research Station. The harbor is polluted because the growing town has no modern sewage treatment plant. Sewage has been pumped into the island's volcanic fissures, but it is beginning to back up into the town's domestic plumbing.
The success of the tour industry has brought more Ecuadorians from the mainland too. The Province of Galapagos has the highest per capita income in the country. Immigration was restricted by the government in 1998 by the passage of the "Ley de Galapagos" or Special Law for the Conservation and Special Use of the Galapagos Province. Only prior residents may live permanently in the islands. Temporary workers must have a job contract and return to the mainland when the contract expires. However, there is a growing illegal immigration problem. There are plans for deportation of illegals, but nothing has happened yet. The total human population for the four inhabited islands is currently estimated at 30,000. Supplying the tour industry and its support base also brings another problem to the islands, invasive species, which arrive in cargoes by sea and air.
Its easy for an observant visitor to see that burgeoning human activity is impacting wildlife. At the town fish wharf a local fisherman was feeding scraps to begging sea lions and pelicans despite park rules against feeding. Granted, Puerto Ayora is outside park boundaries, but the animals do not know that. Birds like frigates, boobies and the magnificent waved albatross court, mate and nests literally under the feet of hundreds of gawking tourists each day, year round. Its hard to understand how they cannot have their survival rhythms disrupted despite assurances to the contrary by naturalist guides. When questioned, my park guide had to admit that boobies have been moving their nesting spots out of the tourist tracks and deeper into the scrub. Meanwhile, the relentless tramp of boots continues to erode arid soil from the trails.
During several snorkeling swims in water up to 30m deep, I was struck by two observations: the absence of sharks, except for two small reef sharks, and the sparsity of fish life in general. The seas around the Galapagos are relatively cold despite its tropical location so there are only about a half dozen coral types, but I expected to see more fish. There are plenty of sea lions to see in the water and on the beaches. Watching pups play in the surf under the protection of a bull will put a smile on the most cynical human face. Their amusing curiosity for humans can lead to trouble. Landing on Sante Fe island, a young pup waddle up to our group as if to display his injury to us. Clearly, it's tail had been deeply sliced by a propeller blade. The cut was deep enough to sever a nerve because one of its flippers was lame. It was a distressing sight, and a serious injury that will probably an early death. Seal lions need all the speed they can muster to escape sharks. 
There is still significant populations of endemic wildlife on the islands that have little fear of visitors who do not molest them. The National Park was created to protect it on the centenary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, 1959. Ninety seven percent of the uninhabited land mass was included. Little was done to actively protect endemic wildlife or deal with invasive species until the Charles Darwin Research Station was founded in 1964. The first management effort for marine life was suggested by an American Peace Corp volunteer in 1974. Surrounding waters were declared a marine reserve in 1986. The marine reserve boundary extends 40 miles out to sea and commercial fishing is prohibited. Artisanal fishing is permitted and there are 682 (2000) registered fishermen. Illegal fishing continues as enforcement is sporadic. Sharks are being wiped out for their fins, a Oriental delicacy that brings high prices. It is estimated that sharks will disappear from the area in ten years. I did see one Ecuadorian coast guard frigate at anchor in Baltra. My guide proudly pointed out that the "Guardia" had captured the four illegal fishing vessels anchored around the ship. Effective policing will require more ships and more severe punishment than mere fines. Imprisonment and forfeiture of vessels will be required to put poachers out of action. 
Ecuador is not a rich country and it needs more resources than the income from tourism to effectively preserve one of the last great wild places on Earth. To its credit, the government is making earnest efforts to control invasive species. Humans should be included in that category despite the revenue tourism generates. The Galapagos is a popular holiday destination because of it's unique and vulnerable wildlife. The Galapagos is also a world heritage site that needs protection. More about efforts to preserve the islands' unique species and habitats in my next post on the enchanted isles.