News

Last week, the Agricultural Health Service (SESA) in Galapagos was under a botanical alert  after a destructive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) was detected on the Archipelago.

The report said medflies (Ceratitis capitataWiedemann), one of the most invasive insects, were found on San Cristobal and Santa Cruz islands. (Source AFP).

This week SESA and the Galapagos National Park have reported a considerable reduction of the medfly population in the islands due to the efforts in the control of this pest that took effect in May this year.

 Sesa representatives have explained to the local press they have used two types of traps for this purpose and are having good results these past weeks. Organic pesticides have been used in farming areas as well.

The threat of the medfly is still present for the Galapagos authorities. The SESA and GNP will evaluate the population numbers of this insect in the next month. Other actions may take effect if the fly remains in the islands.

Authorities have increased the control of fresh products that come from Mainland and they have forbidden the transportation of fruit products outside the areas that are affected. 

Source: Ecuador Inmediato, Aug 26, 2008 

2009 will mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work ‘On the Origin of Species’ and 50 years since the establishment of the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF).

The CDF will be celebrating these three momentous events by hosting an international scientific symposium:“Darwin’s 200th Birthday and 50 years of conservation in the Galapagos: the role of science in developing a sustainable future”.

For more information please visit the CDF Webpage at www.darwinfoundation.org or click on this link below:

http://www.darwinfoundation.org/files/library/pdf/simdarwin.pdf 

Source: Charles Darwin Foundation 

On August 11th, Edgar Muñoz, a Galapagos resident and with previous experience in the Galapagos National Park management, was designated as the new director for this institution.

Muñoz is a biologist and he is the former chief of the tourism program at the Park. 

His aims are to reduce the risk  of introduction of exotic species  in the Archipelago in addition to working on the new initiatives in tourism activities that are being promoted. 

Congratulations to the new Director of the Galapagos National Park! 

 The news of Lonesome George may be a father soon it will be one of the greatest conservation events of the year if it happens.

On July 21, 2008 Galapagos Park rangers found a nest in George’s corral with nine eggs—three of which were intact, two of which had tiny cracks, and four of which were broken entirely. Eight more eggs were found in a new nest the morning of August 5th—all eight eggs were in good condition. 

There are now a total of 13 eggs in the incubators: 5 from the first tortoise and 8 laid by the second. It will be another 120-130 days before the incubation process is completed and before it is known if the eggs are viable.

George is the last remaining Pinta Island tortoise, was brought to the Research Station in 1972 with the hopes that he might breed with tortoises similar to the Pinta subspecies. His two new companions were brought from Volcán Wolf (the northernmost volcano on Isabela Island) because morphologically they were the most similar to Pinta tortoises. We now know, sources from The Galapagos Conservancy say, through genetic studies that tortoises from Española are genetically closest to the subspecies from Pinta. We also now know that a hybrid tortoise was discovered on Volcán Wolf (Isabela) which shares half of its genetic material with Geochelone nigra abingdoni, as sources from The Galapagos Conservancy say.

For the full story, please check the link below:

http://www.galapagos.org/2008/index.php?id=139

On July 2nd, the tourist vessel, Spondylus, sank in Darwin Bay, Genovesa, with 15 passengers and a crew of 9 people on board and they were rescued by other two tourist vessels, Monserrat and Encantada.

The Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have sent a team of technicians to the site and they are evaluating the environmental damage of this accident.

Authorities are in the process of recovering 300 gallons of diesel from the tanks of the sunk vessel. As of today, no major environmental damage has been reported.

Genovesa Island is located in the North side of the Galapagos Islands, seventy one nautical miles from Puerto Ayora.

Source: Galapagos National Park