Galápagos Islands Essay

Charles Darwin, a naturalist born in 1809 England, traveled around the world on the HMS Beagle from 1831-1836 (Desmond). He made observations on land for three out of the five years he traveled around the world; his most significant findings were recorded on the Galápagos Islands. The most crucial evidence of evolution, a theory that Darwin is known for, consist of the different species of Galapagos tortoises and finches that Darwin observed. He noticed that depending on the different islands similar finches had different variations of beak size and shape. To add, he observed that the tortoise's shell shape and neck length varied based on which island they resided on. Darwin made the observation that depending on each island, which had different

Visiting a different island in the Caribbean each summer has always been a family tradition of mine. The first few years never failed to make me fall in love with each and every one of them, but once my family suggested on visiting Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the eighth year, my thoughts were not so hyped. Going to the same sea each year can get old and boring. When we finally got to Punta Cana, falling in love was too short of a term to describe what I felt for it. As soon as we landed we were greeted with songs and happiness all around. The nobleness lingering in the atmosphere, coconut smell in the air, and architecture went beyond my imagination.

Thesis: The Galapagos Islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, a beautiful and exotic place for your next vacation.

     The mainland of Ecuador has three regions: (1) the Coastal Lowland, (2) the Andes Highland, and (3) the Eastern Lowland. The Galapagos Islands also belong to Ecuador. Ecuador's climate varies according to the altitude. The Coastal Lowland and the Eastern Lowland are hot and humid. The Peru Current cools the Coastal Lowland slightly. The temperature in the lowlands averages about 75 °F (24 °C). The Peru Current cools the tropical climate of the Galapagos Islands.

The poop of the Galapagos Penguin fertilizes the land allowing for the healthy growth of plants which are consumed by other animals that live on the islands. If the Galapagos Penguin became extinct, it could possibly cause the extermination of local plants such as the “Ulva” leading to the extinction of the animals which rely on them. These include the “Parrot Fish”, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, “Five-Spotted Anthia” as well as many more species of land and sea

The climate of the Sunrise Islands is tropical, with warm temperatures all year long. Temperatures stay at 78—87°F throughout the year. Rain is at the lowest in January through March, at 3–4.5 inches, and highest in October, at around 11 inches. The daylight time is the same all year long, at 11.5 – 12.5 hr. per day.

Darwin was the British naturalist who became famous for his theories of evolution and natural selection. Like several scientists before him, Darwin believed all the life on earth evolved over millions of years from a few common ancestors. From 1831 to 1836 Darwin served as naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a British science expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. The expedition visited places around the world, and Darwin studied plants and animals everywhere he went, collecting specimens for further study.

Naturalists believe that Santa Fe once had its own species of tortoise, and the renewed effort to reintroduce the tortoise to the island has proven effective. In a 2016 survey of the island, the 165 reptiles that we found all appeared healthy and well fed, indicating that the entire population was moving ahead.

Loggerhead, hawksbill, green and Kemp’s ridley turtle species dwell on Cayo Costa. Loggerhead leads in the count with green turtles running a distant second. Threats to these nests on Cayo Costa include the common raccoon, foxes, ants, ghost crabs, high tide and humans.

Weedon Island was home to the very first Native Americans that came to Florida Alabama and Georgia; these people used to do everything in the island and lived there for a long period of time. Even though, the island is very small for an entire population to live in it because there was probably not enough food for everyone, they still managed to stay there for many years. Nowadays the place is a reserve own by the state where tourists and locals can go and explore. During the hike people get to see the Florida state tree, many pine trees, turtles, and many other organisms that are protected by the state, and just like any other preserve, the organisms found at the island cannot be taken or harmed.

Charles Darwin began his scientific breakthroughs and upcoming theories when he began an expedition trip to the Galapagos Islands of South America. While studying there, he discovered that each island had its own type of plant and animal species. Although these plants and animals were similar in appearance, they had other characteristics that made them differ from one another and seem to not appear as similar. Darwin questioned why these plants and animals were on these islands and why they are different in ways.

Easter Island, submerged volcanic mountain range in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is located 500 miles South of the Tropic of Capricorn, and 2,200 miles West of Chile. This area is located were it is swept by strong trade winds. Because of his, the island remains warm through out the year. As you know, Easter Island is small. To be exact it has an area of 64 square miles about the size of Washington D.C. Easter Island’s population as grown a lot since diseases spread to most of the island in1877. Some of the remaining people left for South America, and the island was left 110 people. The population grew throughout the years in 1955 it was 990, in 1980 it was 1,842 and in 1989 it was 2,095.

Ecuador is a small country on the Pacific coast of South America. It is bisected laterally by the equator, and longitudinally by the Andes. The Andes divide the country’s mainland into three distinct regions, the coast to the west, the mountains, and the rainforest to the east. It is the Andes that this paper is focused on, giving special attention to the mountain Cotopaxi.

The Galapagos Islands is an archipelago and a province of Ecuador. It is mostly known for its wildlife and the inspiration for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Furthermore, the Galapagos are considered to be some of the youngest islands in the world with exotic species. Overall, there are twenty major islands that constitute the Galapagos. The island itself was discovered by the Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, on March 10, 1535. As time elapsed, there have been more individuals who have influenced the islands, including tourists. Today, it is one of the most preserved lands in the world and is labeled by UNESCO as a World Heritage Centre.

While on the Galápagos Islands, Darwin kept notebooks about all the species there, and he noticed the variety of tortoises on the island who were essential in explaining his theory of evolution. There are several species of tortoise present on the Galápagos Islands that are all very closely related, but slightly different. There are eleven presently surviving subspecies of Galápagos tortoises; furthermore, six of the eleven are found on different islands in the archipelago, and the other five are all found on a single island on five separate volcanoes with their own mini-ecosystems (PNAS). Although all of the species of Galápagos tortoise is different, they each have small differences that can include maximum adult size, shell shape, and the length of the neck and limbs. The tortoises of the islands are most closely related to the Chaco tortoises along the western coast of South America, and they most likely came to the Galápagos by “rafting” across the water (PNAS). Similar to the tortoises, Darwin observed that the Finches on the islands also had changed to match the environment. Spread among the islands were fourteen subspecies of finch whose