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Exploring the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean. They are interesting because of the unusual creatures that live there. Let's take a look at some of these animals.

Love is not easy to find when you are the last male of your kind. At least that is how it seems for the Galapagos Islands tortoise that scientists call Lonesome George. He is just one of the many animals and plants that live on this famous group of Pacific Ocean islands.

The islands were named for the large land turtles that live on them. At one time, the islands were home to about 15 different kinds of land turtles. The largest island, Isabela, has five different kinds of tortoises. But, Lonesome George is not one of them. He comes from a smaller island called Pinta.

The Galapagos Islands have always had an air of mystery. In 1535, a ship carrying the Roman Catholic Bishop of Panama came upon the Galapagos accidentally. Tomas de Berlanga named the Galapagos group the Enchanted Isles. He was surprised to see land turtles that weighed almost 300 kilograms. He said they were so large each could carry a man on top of itself.

The British scientist Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835. He collected plants and animals from several

islands. After many years of research, he wrote the book "The Origin of Species." He developed the theory of evolution that life on Earth developed through the process of natural selection . The book changed the way people think about how living things developed and changed over time.

More than 125 land masses make up the Galapagos. Only 19 are large enough to be considered islands. The Galapagos are a province of Ecuador. The island group lies across the equator about 1,000 kilometers west of the coast of South America. Scientists have been wondering for years about the position of the Galapagos in the Pacific Ocean. They used to think that the islands were connected to the South American mainland and floated out to sea slowly. Today, most scientists think the islands were always where they are now. But, they think the islands once were a single land mass under water. Volcanic activity broke the large island into pieces that came to the surface of the sea over time.

But scientists wonder how animals arrived on Galapagos if the islands were always so far from the mainland. Scientists think most Galapagos plants and animals floated to the islands. When rivers flood in South America, small pieces of land flow into the ocean. These rafts can

hold trees and bushes, as well as small mammals and reptiles. The adult Galapagos tortoise clearly is too big for a trip hundreds of kilometers across the ocean. But, turtle eggs or baby turtles would be small enough to float to the islands.

The islands are home to many unusual birds, reptiles and small mammals. Some of the animals live no where else on Earth. The tortoise is the most famous Galapagos reptile. But the marine iguana is just as rare. It is the only iguana in the world that goes into the ocean. The marine iguana eats seaweed. It can dive at least 15 meters below the ocean surface. And it can stay down there for more than 30 minutes.

Several strange birds also live on the Galapagos. One of them is the only penguin that lives on the equator . Another is the frigate bird. It has loose skin on its throat that it can blow up into a huge red balloon. It does this to attract females who make observation flights over large groups of males.

Scientists continue to study life on the Galapagos Islands. They are also starting to use special underwater equipment to study the deepest parts of the ocean that surrounds the islands. Maybe one day we will unravel all the mysteries of this strange place.

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