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Galapagos News FALL 2006 Galapagos news a biannual English- publication for members of the international network of Friends of Galapagos organizations

Basic Science May Save the Waved

David J. Anderson is associate professor in the Department of Biology at Wake Forest University in Winston- Salem, .

ll of us who live and work in Galapagos cherish the brief Aglimpses of that our visits afford. Their supremely composed flight over the waves, the elegant excitement of their courtship dances, and their unassuming Issue countenance as they take in their world are all hallmarks of the , treasured residents of Española Island. Special features on: My students, colleagues, and I have managed annual research visits to Waved Albatross Española for the past 23 years, and our studies (especially those with Jill Galapagos Awkerman of Wake Forest University and Kate Huyvaert of Colorado State University) have revealed a number of eye-opening facts about the lives of these calm and engaging creatures. While socially monogamous, with significant cuddling and other public displays of affection between paired birds, females participate in startling Plus: amounts of copulation outside the . Parentage work using DNA shows that fathers frequently spend Sport fishing: the long breeding season caring for the offspring of another male as a result! Threat or benefit? Using a fixed nest site to house is good enough for all other , but not for the waved albatross. Rudimentary compared to the volcano- like structures of most albatrosses elsewhere, the “nest” is little more than a place to lay the , and 93 percent

(continued on page 6) Sebastien Miazza Galapagos News

Galapagos News is a copyright twice-yearly publication produced for members of The Value of Alliances the international network of Friends of Galapagos organizations. These non-profit organizations, which to Conserve Galapagos are listed below, all support the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. by Graham Watkins The information in this issue was obtained from the CDF, the Galapagos National Park, and other sources, Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation but they are not responsible for the accuracy of the content or the opinions expressed herein. The future young Galapagos residents. The CDF ISSN 1468-8514 conservation of is working with the Santa Cruz fishing Galapagos will cooperative, a national NGO, and a local Galapagos Conservancy depend upon NGO to examine management in USA partnerships among Tel: +1 703 538 6833 Galapagos. The CDF is also working with Email: [email protected] local, national, WWF, Fundacion Natura, three fisheries Web: www.galapagos.org and international cooperatives, and the Galapagos National Zoologische Gesellschaft institutions. Park to support tourism development with Germany Successful alliances are based on artisanal fishers. Tel: +49 (0) 69-943446-0 Fax: +49 (0) 69-439348 keeping things simple, ensuring In addition, the CDF recently finished Web: www.zgf.de leadership that establishes a vision Project Isabela, an eight-year project

Galapagos Conservation Trust and values, and ensuring clarity in working with the Galapagos National communication. Park, the Ministry of the Environment, Tel: +44 (0)20 7629 5049 Galapagos is a melting pot of interests UNDP, a helicopter Email: [email protected] Web: www.gct.org ranging from tourism and fisheries company, and the Global Environment Freunde der Galapagos Inseln businesses, through local and national Facility to eradicate goats from Santiago Switzerland Tel: +41 (0)1 254 26 70 government, to multilateral and bilateral and northern Isabela Islands. Finally, Email: [email protected] organizations and international NGOs. the CDF is working with the Galapagos Web: www.galapagos-ch.org The challenge is to bring these interests National Institute, the Galapagos National Stichting Vrienden van de Galapagos Eilanden together to create and implement a Park, the Ministry of Environment, The Netherlands shared vision for Galapagos. The CDF Lindblad Expeditions, and the Galapagos Tel: +31 (0) 186-651950 Email: [email protected] considers that through developing Conservancy to prepare a “State of Web: www.galapagos.nl and supporting local, national, and Galapagos Report” for 2006; the report Nordic Friends of Galapagos international alliances we can begin will outline the trends and issues in Finland to shift the direction of change in Galapagos as a basis for decision making. Tel: +3358-50-5644279 Galapagos toward sustainability. All of these projects demonstrate the Email: k.kumenius@kolumbus.fi Web: www.galapagosnordic.org Over the past year, the CDF has importance of working in partnership built upon and further developed across geographical scales with various Fundación Amigos de Galapagos critical alliances for sustainability. parties bringing their comparative Email: [email protected] For example, the CDF has worked advantages together to establish an The Japanese Association for Galapagos with the Galapagos National College, emergent collaborative result. local chefs, the tourism sector, and I hope that you will continue to Tel/Fax: 03-5766-4060 the Frankfurt Zoological Society to join with us in our venture to ensure Email: [email protected] Web: www.j-galapagos.org initiate a culinary training school for the conservation of these extraordinary islands. Charles Darwin Foundation of Canada Canada Tel: 416.964.4400 Email: [email protected]

Friends Of Galapagos New Zealand Searching for a good book? New Zealand Galapagos Conservancy recommends: Email: [email protected] www.galapagos.org.nz Lonesome George: Editor-in-Chief: Nigel Sitwell The Life and Loves of a Conservation Icon, Executive Director: Leonor Stjepic Editorial Assistant: Abigail Rowley by Henry Nicholls Voluntary Consultant: Roz Cooper A swashbuckling tale of exploration, obsession, adventure on the Galapagos News is printed on paper made high , Charles Darwin, cloning, hostages, DNA from 75% de-inked post-consumer waste. fingerprinting, and ! Available online in the Galapagos Conservancy store: www.galapagos.org/gifts/ Harry Bosen higher mortality of females than males, skewing the sex ratio in subsequent years. “This is of real concern,” says Vargas. If one El Niño event follows too closely on the heels of another, there’s a risk that the penguin population will not have had time to recover, he says. Mathematical models predict that under the current El Niño scenario, the Galapagos penguin has a 30 face a percent chance of becoming extinct this century. Once other threats like disease outbreaks, oil spills, and the presence of non-native predators, such as feral cats, are rocky future added into the equation, things look even more bleak. There’s more. The penguin sits at a by Henry Nicholls telling position in the food chain. “If a bird population is declining for several That’s the message from a recent study find in the tropics. This is made possible years,” says Vargas, “it means something into the effects of El Niño on the tiny by the cold, nutrient-rich water that rises is happening to the habitat which is population of this diminutive species. to the surface at the , providing damaging for biodiversity as a whole.” Scientists and park wardens have been this shallow-diving penguin with the Galapagos is the only archipelago monitoring Galapagos penguins since the it needs to survive. If there is enough food in the world where no bird species has 1970s, but it’s only now that the real fruits for the taking, the Galapagos penguin will ever become extinct. “Collaboration of this long-term effort are starting to be nest throughout the year. So if conditions is vital if conservation projects are realized, says Hernan Vargas, a Galapagos- are right, the population size can increase to work,” says Vargas. “The project born researcher who has just completed dramatically from one year to the next. I’m doing is supported by a range of his doctoral studies at Oxford University’s That said, the total number of Galapagos international funders and Galapagos-based Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. organizations. It’s very important to have The pint-sized Galapagos penguin is the rarest of its kind and is heading

Photos above and right by Hernan Vargas show precariously close penguins being measured and weighed in the interests of science and their own future. to .

It has not been easy. Unmarked birds penguins has been hovering at just under have had to be captured so that vital 1,500 individuals for many years now. measurements can be taken and so that This was not always the case. Up until birds can be marked to identify them on the 1980s, there were probably nearer 4,000 subsequent visits. “They are very small, penguins in the archipelago. Since then, the that combination of local involvement and very fast and clever, so they're not easy frequency and severity of El Niño events and international support and expertise. to catch,” says Vargas. “I usually fall in seem to have increased, and this is almost Preserving biodiversity in the Galapagos the water or onto the rocks. I end up quite certainly taking its toll on endangered Islands is close to my heart because it scratched and bruised,” he says. like the Galapagos penguin. is my home – but it is an issue that’s But all this pain has produced some The El Niño events of 1982-1983 and important for the whole world.” gain. Vargas and his colleagues have, in 1997-1998 were particularly strong, with recent months, published several papers on the temperature rising by around 3°C. Henry Nicholls is a freelance science the Galapagos penguin that should prove On both occasions, relatively healthy journalist and author of Lonesome crucial to the conservation effort in years penguin numbers crashed to just a few George: The Life and Loves to come. hundred birds and on both occasions, the of a Conservation Icon This rare species, Spheniscus population was slow to recover. What’s (Macmillan, 2006). mendiculus, is the only penguin you’ll more, El Niño events seem to result in a 3 discovery of large numbers of endemic species on Pinta, and the impressive recovery of the native vegetation on which they depend, clearly confirmed that islands which have been heavily affected News by can recover when From Galapagos the intruders are removed. Provided by the Charles Darwin Foundation Russian tourists cruise Galapagos in a Sea lions caught in mini-submarine shark-fishing net Two Britons were detained in July for illegally piloting a tiny tourist submarine Illegal fishing CDF

David Hosking/FLPA in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Also continues in the detained were seven crew members of a Galapagos Marine Panamanian ship that carried the undersea Reserve. The craft. “The use of submarines in the Ecuadorian Navy Marine Reserve is forbidden,” said Edwin and Galapagos Naula, the Galapagos National Park’s National Park tourism officer. rangers stopped a small fishing boat, the According to officials, the submarine Galapagos Adventure, in July off the east was transported from Panama to coast of Isabela. On board they found two Galapagos on board the Cebaco Bay, sea lions entangled in a heavy-duty net of in reverse? which had arranged to meet up with a a kind that is used to catch sharks. Two luxury yacht, the Constellation, carrying Studies of medium ground finches on Santa more similar nets were found on the boat. 24 Russian tourists. Four of the passengers Cruz Island have suggested that some of Fortunately, the sea lions were freed. boarded the submersible near Floreana them are undergoing a process of “reverse When the rangers and fishermen Island, where they went for an underwater evolution.” It seems that once upon a arrived at Puerto Villamil, the latter cruise, said Alan Whitfield, the British time they all had similar-sized bills, but managed to escape, but their identities captain of the craft. then evolutionary pressures took a hand were known, and it was likely that they Although the mini-submarine, owned in things, and, according to information would be caught and charged. by a British company, Silvercrest from the 1960s, the birds diverged into two Submarines, and the Panamanian ship populations, which had either large bills were being held by the Ecuadorian Navy or small bills. Only rarely did they have Pinta’s extraordinary at San Cristobal Island, the yacht and its medium-sized bills. This shift was probably recovery Russian passengers are understood to because the birds were specializing in More than 20 previously unregistered have escaped from Ecuadorian waters. eating seeds of different sizes. moth species, an abundance of known Recently, however, Andrew Hendry, moth species, and possibly a new species New National Park Director an ecologist from McGill University in of beetle were recorded by CDF scientists Montreal, Canada, has been measuring working with colleagues from the The post of Director of the Galapagos bills and has found that around the town Geneva Museum of Natural History and National Park is a great challenge, and it of Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz, finches Wake Forest University, USA, during an is a challenge that Raquel Molina Moreira with intermediate, middle-sized bills expedition to isolated and rarely visited has recently taken on with enthusiasm. are the norm. Hendry and his colleagues Pinta Island. Pinta is well known as the She is the first woman to occupy the say that only well away from town, in birthplace of the giant tortoise, Lonesome post, and was appointed in early 2006 unpopulated areas, did the two different George, but the team was there to evaluate by the Environment Minister, following bill sizes occur. the recovery of the island following the a transparent and professionally run Why are the medium ground finches eradication in 2001 of the goats which selection process. reverting to a common size? The had once ravaged the island. They also Forty-year-old Molina has wide reason, say the researchers, is either that wanted to study the evolutionary biology experience in conservation. While still a humans have introduced plants with and chemical ecology of moths. Because biology student she worked as a volunteer intermediate-sized seeds, or that they are insects have a short generation time and at the Charles Darwin Research Station. feeding the finches with rice. All of the specialized feeding habits, they are an The Station later gave her a permanent birds can eat rice, says Hendry, so there’s important indicator of the health of any position as Assistant for Environmental no point in having differing . One ecosystem. Education. Having obtained her degree size fits all, it seems. Damaged ecosystems generally have at the Universidad Estatal Santiago de very low levels of endemic species. Guayaquil, she became Coordinator of Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society. However, the international team’s a project to protect the Cerro Blanco  The Cleve Hickman Forest. After and his company, Lindblad Expeditions, Galapagos Research and this Molina have made in raising almost $3 million Conservation Fund obtained a from his passengers for Galapagos degree in conservation. CDF also honoured Sven by Recognizing decades of dedication Environ- naming a new species of Galapagos moth to students and Galapagos mental after him. In late 2005, a group of nearly 50 Washing- Relations. She In addition to Sven-Olof Lindblad, the ton and Lee University alumni and later studied other guests represented a varied cross- members returned to their alma mater to Management section of generosity. Some had made participate in a weekend of Galapagos of Coastal significant personal donations, some had events. They were invited by Dr. Cleve Ecosystems in Mexico, and completed enabled access to trusts and foundations, Hickman, their former professor and mentor, a course in Environmental Impact in while others had provided commercial who led them on expeditions to Galapagos Malaga, Spain. support at little or no cost. Some were in their junior and senior years. Molina has worked with the community planning major fundraising events, and Dr. Hickman first visited Galapagos in of Puerto Hondo, a small fishing village, one had pledged to give a Euro cent 1974 on a family trip with his wife, Rae, where she successfully implemented a for every pizza slice he expects to sell and his mother and father. During this trip project designed to create alternative at sporting venues in several countries. he decided that Galapagos afforded spe- work sources within the tourist sector. Many were Board members of the various cial opportunities for his students. She also worked for several years in the Friends of Galapagos organizations to Over the next 20 years, Cleve led over 150 Association “6 de Julio” which is made up which they had contributed much time Washington and Lee Biology students on 12 of five community groups that depend on and money. expeditions to Galapagos. Beginning with the collection of crabs in the mangroves Such a gathering made it clear that the seventh field trip, students carried out the of the Gulf of Guayaquil. More recently, Galapagos support has moved on from first intertidal surveys of Galapagos inver- she was employed in Galapagos as the early days when the Charles Darwin tebrate fauna. This led to the development Coordinator of the Inter-Institutional Foundation just about survived on a and publication of a series of field guides on Committee for the Management of little Ecuadorian government funding, Galapagos , including sea stars, Introduced Domestic species. with UNESCO paying a salary or two, sea cucumbers and other echinoderms, As Director of the Galapagos National and some bilateral grants appearing at marine mollusks, , and corals. Park, Raquel Molina’s priorities will be irregular intervals. These publications continue to be important restructuring the staff, publishing the Nowadays, CDF anticipates that its tools for scientists working in Galapagos. new Park Administrative Statute, and five million dollar annual budget will During their Galapagos reunion, several implementing the Park’s Management come from a variety of sources led by of Dr. Hickman’s former students decided Plan. the Friends of Galapagos Organizations. to launch an endowed fund named in honor The first FOGO – originally named the of Cleve to honor his dedication to W&L A World Movement to Charles Darwin Foundation, Inc., but students and his scientific accomplishments Conserve Galapagos? now known as Galapagos Conservancy – that have contributed to a greater under- started in a small way 20 years ago in the standing of marine life in Galapagos. They In May 2006 Their Royal Highnesses United States. Today it raises more than have since undertaken a campaign to invite the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess $2 million every year. Since then other fellow alumni, Washington and Lee faculty of Luxembourg hosted a splendid and FOGOs have become a constant, reliable and others who know Dr. Hickman or are inspiring weekend for a key group of source of relatively unrestricted money interested in Galapagos marine conservation specially invited supporters of Galapagos. which allows CDF to undertake the many to contribute to the Fund. The Grand Duke is a Board member tasks it now performs. The Cleve Hickman Galapagos Research of the Charles Darwin Foundation and The support of people all over the world and Conservation Fund will be the first ever since his first visit (of many) to the is vital to continue with the protection of named endowed fund to specifically support islands in 1988, he has done these enchanting islands. conservation in the archipelago. Managed much to bring together those by Galapagos Conservancy, it will provide who support the work of the ongoing support for marine research and scientists and conservationists conservation carried out by the Charles in the islands. To reinforce Darwin Research Station in Galapagos. their commitment, the Gifts and pledges made to the Fund royal couple invited major during 2006 will be matched on a 1:1 benefactors to their home at basis. Please email Galapagos Conservancy the end of May to pay tribute at [email protected] for to their various efforts. information about how to make a tax The Grand Duke presented deductible contribution that will simultane- Sven-Olof Lindblad, of the ously recognize the contributions of Dr. United States, with a personal Hickman and contribute to the conservation decoration in recognition of of the Galapagos archipelago. the great achievement that he  Mike Keenan (Albatrosses, continued from page 1) for up to 80 percent of all egg failures, birds in a mass-banding effort to better of eggs soon find themselves, and their and its cause remains obscure. estimate year-to-year survival. To our parents, out in the open. Breeding birds do most of their feeding dismay, one percent of these birds turned The incubating parent intentionally not around Española, and not even within up dead on fishing boats in the next 12 scoots the egg away from the nest, a Galapagos. Satellite and GPS trackers months. mysterious behavior since the chance show that parents leave their egg or chick At the same time, we discovered that of hatching decreases as the amount and take a five-day trip to the waters the annual survival rate of adults dropped of movement increases. The typical off the coast of . There they forage from the historical level of 95.3 percent egg moves several meters during the intensively and transport the booty back to 92.5 percent, a dramatic decline incubation period, and some of them up to to Española, with a tailwind reducing the for a potentially long-lived species. 40 meters (130 feet), ending up typically length of the return trip to four days. The The albatross life history combines an 1.2 m (about 4 feet) from the original total round-trip can easily exceed 3,000 inflexible, low reproductive rate with a laying spot. This phenomenon accounts km (around 1,900 miles) during more than long life. The slow reproduction probably two weeks. Electronic activity monitors permits the long life, by minimizing show that most of their active foraging reproductive effort and keeping the adults occurs during daylight hours, and at night from getting run-down. In combination, their GPS tracks show them drifting along long life and slow reproduction can yield Paula Herman with the prevailing current. a stable population. Some Galapagos species face life- However, the reproductive rate stays threatening problems in the islands in low even if adult survival drops, and the the form of predatory introduced species, population size should enter free-fall. habitat destruction, and human harvesting. Counts of the total population in 1994 The lucky albatross has escaped such and 2001 provided a grim corroboration risks so far, yet our recent data indicate a of this prediction, indicating a dramatic looming cloud outside the archipelago. decline in population size. Most readers Española is the equivalent of a suburban will be horrified by the knowledge that at residence for the waved albatross, and least some of the albatrosses dying in Peru they commute to the Peruvian Upwelling were caught as food. They were a target to work. They forage there intermingled species of the , caught on a baited with the extensive small-boat fishery for hook set specifically for a bird that strayed sharks, rays, tunas, and other . In too close to a fishing vessel. 2004, we placed leg bands on over 2,500 Male waved albatrosses, representing 82  Galapagos News percent of the Peruvian band returns, are far more vulnerable to fishery death than females. The deficit of males has a highly negative effect on population stability, Sport fishing leaving some females ready and able to

breed but without a partner to provide Photo by Robert Pernell bi-parental care. in Galapagos: Analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the blood of males and females suggests that males have a Threat or benefit? competitive superiority on the feeding grounds used by both sexes, with males taking desirable prey higher in the food chain. Electronic activity loggers suggest by Jack Stein Grove the same disparity, with males spending less time searching for food than females do. We suspect that this competitive advantage of males, probably related to Jack is a leading their larger body size, backfires during authority on fisheries and fishery interactions. Both sexes may marine environments in be attracted to the apparent easy lunch the Galapagos Islands. around fishing vessels, but males may be more “successful” in pursuit of baited hooks and fish caught in gill nets. The pproximately 12 percent of the kinds, including some endemics will not adult population on Española is now world’s most biologically diverse be released. The concern however, is not female-biased, and our molecular genetic terrestrial areas are protected limited to fisheries management; it is the studies of hatching, fledging, and young A as national parks, world Heritage Sites, multifaceted challenges for the Galapagos adult sex ratios indicate that males and corridors, and wildlife sanctuaries. National Park Service, some of which are females are equally numerous during Unfortunately, less than one percent of insurmountable. these stages. The sex ratio bias seems to the world’s oceans are protected. With so Enter the words “Galapagos Sport arise during adulthood; fishery mortality few marine sanctuaries, why introduce Fishing” into any internet search engine of males is a prime suspect. Widowed into one of the few marine parks a “sport” and you will find an array of travel tips, females do not breed as a result. that includes killing of marine life? This details about fishing, how to book a With such information in hand, the is the state of affairs in the Galapagos. boat, and even how to bring home your governments of and Peru have Clandestine tour operators are selling catch. Alongside these are articles from entered into discussions to mitigate this sport fishing trips, and shop windows in conservation organisations denouncing the developing conservation emergency. Santa Cruz and San Cristobal display foot- activity. If you go online to research this It is an encouraging development that long lures with three sets of treble hooks threat to Galapagos, be sure to review the brings into clear focus the vast potential (making catch and release impossible). statement from the Galapagos National of basic science in Galapagos to inform The concept of “catch and release” Park Service, warning that sport fishing conservation policy and to engage fishing in Galapagos is a façade. Some is not legal within the boundaries of the political leaders in the pursuit of national of the fishes caught by illicit sport marine reserve, which extend seaward and, in this case, international solutions fishermen are already showing up in local 40 miles from the periphery of the to conservation problems. restaurants and markets. The income Archipelago. that is purportedly to promote the local Given the impossibility of an absolute economy fills the pockets of operators in release fishery, efforts must begin Guayaquil and Quito. This growing threat immediately to determine how the fish is complex and unlike any other that the brought into port by sport fishermen islands have ever faced. The target species will be accounted for by the authorities. for the new fishery are billfish: Pacific Commercial sales of fish captured by sport sailfish, black marlin, Pacific blue marlin, fishermen could be prohibited by law. This short-billed spearfish, and swordfish. regulation has been applied successfully Many of these fish are likely to be in Florida with protected fishes such as released and some will probably survive. snook, Centropomus undecimalis and The other species which are quick to Atlantic swordfish, Xiphias gladius. take a hook include some of the world’s The fishing industry in Galapagos most desirable food fishes, such as tuna has historically been regulated as a socio- and mahi-mahi. These, and many other economic entity; however, this entity now (continued on page 8) Eva Powers  (Sport Fishing, continued from page 7) Monthly Contributor Program Share Galapagos has considerable political power and this Reduces Fundraising Costs will continue to be a factor in establishing with your Friends an environmentally friendly sport fishery. Our Monthly Contributor program and Family! The local fishing community must be offers an easy way for you to provide incorporated into the development of a ongoing support to address the con- The holiday season is around the sport fishery as a political entity. servation challenges in the Galapa- corner! Support Galapagos If the new fishery is to be sustainable gos Islands. By joining our monthly conservation and do your holiday and support the local economy with contributor program, you’ll also help us reduce our fundraising costs. shopping at the same time. only minimal impact on the ecosystem, the conservation community must be Your membership as a monthly pro-active before any regulations come contributor immediately entitles you into effect. With all due respect to the to: Ecuadorian Government, the ambiguities 1) A biannual subscription to which burden the regulation of all other Galapagos News for the length of fisheries in Ecuador must be avoided in your gift Galapagos. 2) Galapagos E-News, our bimonthly The Galapagos Islands are already email newsletter witness to the arrival of several multi- 3) Invitations to private lectures and million dollar fishing yachts, in spite of other educational activities related Our stunning 2007 Galapagos the fact that there is still no management to Galapagos conservation Conservancy calendars and 2006 system in place to monitor and regulate To learn more about the Galapagos Holiday cards, featuring a Sally sport fishing. We must not allow another Conservancy Monthly Contributor Lightfoot crab, are currently on sale “gold rush”, such as the one brought Program, please visit our website at: in our online store. Get yours now on by the sea cucumber harvest, which before they run out! resulted in the decimation of the resource https://www.galapagos.org/ and a multitude of new socio-economic membership/monthly.html problems. www.galapagos.org

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