Other types of marine life found in Galapagos include:
- Crabs, shrimps and lobsters.
- Sea shells, sea slugs, squids and octopuses.
- Sea urchins, starfishes and sea cucumbers.
- Corals, anenomes and jellyfish.
- Sponges, seaweed, algae and worms.
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How many marine species are in the Galapagos?
3,000 marine species
Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Marine Reserve is home to nearly 3,000 marine species, including such common fish as pompano, better known as jacks. The Galapagos Marine Reserve is one of the largest and most biologically diverse marine protected areas (MPAs) in the world.
Why is there such a diversity of marine life in the waters of the Galapagos Islands?
The amazing diversity of life on the Galapagos Islands is largely due to a phenomenon known as the Humboldt Current. Ocean currents are caused and affected by many different factors, including the gravitational pull of the moon, the earth’s rotation, underwater geography, salinity, wind and water temperature.
Why are the Galapagos Islands important?
Facts. Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador lie the volcanic islands of the Galápagos, famous for a wealth of unique plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The Galápagos Islands were the source of Darwin’s theory of evolution and remain a priceless living laboratory for scientists today.
Where is the Galapagos Marine Reserve?
Ecuador
The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, these islands are the second largest Marine reserve in the world. The reserve includes 133000 km^2 of sea surface and inland water. The entire area with in the 40 nautical miles measured from the coasts of the farthest islands.
What is water like in Galapagos?
You will be thankful for a trip to the relatively calmer ocean surrounding the Galapagos islands.The water is rougher but a bit cooler in temperature, and therefore you need to make sure that you take your wetsuit with you on this trip. The harshest the seas get is during the latter months such as September.
What makes the Galapagos Islands Unique?
The Galapagos Islands are uniquely located on both sides of the equator in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The islands are situated at a point in the Pacific Ocean where three ocean currents collide, creating a unique area in the sea where warm and varying degrees of cold water meet.
What does an abundance of sea life around the Galapagos allow for?
An abundance of marine wildlife receives protection from fishing by the government of Ecuador. A new sanctuary now protects the unique marine life around the Galápagos Islands, including the highest abundance of sharks known in the world.Fishing will no longer be allowed in the new sanctuary and conservation zones.
Who lives in the Galapagos Islands?
Most people are from the Mestizo ethnic group, which are the descendants of Spanish and Native American peoples. People live on only 5 of the 19 islands of the Galápagos: Baltra, Floreana, Isabela, San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. Puerto Ayora is the biggest town, where about 10,000 people live.
What happened in the Galapagos Islands?
A famous rock formation off the Galapagos Islands known as Darwin’s Arch has collapsed. The Ecuadoran Ministry of Environment said it was due to “natural erosion”.
Is there human life on the Galapagos?
Many are surprised to know the Galapagos are indeed inhabited. Even though the archipelago is a National Park, some of the biggest islands are not only home to the Galapagos flora and fauna, but to humans.
When was the Galapagos designated a marine reserve?
The islands are surrounded by the Galapagos Marine Reserve which was created in 1986 (70,000 km2) and extended to its current area (133,000 km2) in 1998, making it one of the largest marine reserves in the world.
Why should we save the Galapagos Islands?
The Galapagos Islands are a fragile environment, easily affected by weather phenomena and sudden changes in the world’s patterns that make us realize how all our actions are inextricably connected. To care about and protect the Galapagos means to care about and protect the world’s threatened environments and resources.
When was the Galapagos Marine Reserve established?
1998
Conservation efforts to protect this one-of-a-kind marine ecosystem began in 1986 with the purpose of protecting the waters surrounding the islands from overexploitation of resources. In 1998 the protected area was greatly expanded and formally came to be known as the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
Is Galapagos water warm?
Although the Galapagos Islands straddle the equator, the water temperatures can sometimes be surprisingly cool and, at other times, surprisingly warm.
How hot is it in the Galapagos Islands?
Galapagos Islands Weather
Galapagos is on the Equator but the weather is not tropical. Temperatures range from 69°-84°F / 21°-30°C.
Does it snow in Galapagos?
On average, February is the wettest month with 4.33 inch (110.0 mm) of precipitation.On average, September is the driest month with 0.31 inch (8.0 mm) of precipitation.
Why are the Galapagos Islands important to the theory of evolution?
His discoveries on the islands were paramount to the development of his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. On the islands, Charles Darwin discovered several species of finches. Thanks to his close observations, he discovered that the different species of finches varied from island to island.
Why are the Galapagos Islands so well suited for the study of evolution?
“Galápagos are a wonderful place to study evolution, still, because, remarkably, several islands and their inhabitants are close to being in the fully natural state, with little or no influence of human activities,” says the evolutionary biologist and Princeton University professor emeritus Peter Grant who, with his
Did you know facts about Galapagos?
20 Fun Facts about the Galapagos Islands
- 97 % of the Galapagos is a national park.
- Galapagos has active volcanos.
- The number of islands is up for debate.
- Three varieties of colorful boobies (seabirds)
- Penguins in the Northern Hemisphere?!?
- Marine iguanas are excellent swimmers.
- Any time is a great time to visit.
What is the ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands?
On the Galapagos Islands, there are three major ecosystems: terrestrial, coastal and marine. In the years of El Niño, the ecosystems show their characteristic behaviours. In the terrestrial zone predominate heavy rains, which has a positive effect on the animals and plants in this zone.
