Galapagos News Summer 2012 Galapagosa semi-annual publication of galapagos conservancynews Connecting people across the globe with conservation in Galapagos IN THIS ISSUE Walking with Finches Building a Sustainable Future Penguin & Cormorant Monitoring Tortoise & the Egg Global Galapagos: Hotspot or Not? NEWS from Galapagos GALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY NEWS Project Updates: Blue-footed Boobies Whale Sharks Celebrity Xpedition Projects Donor Spotlight: Ken & Diane Saladin 2013 GC Cruise 2013 Photo Contest Ron Sorkness took this photo of a Small Tree Finch (Geospiza parvula) in the highlands of Santa Cruz in July 2008. "It was a gloomy day with off/on drizzle," he recalls. "The finch landed briefly to inspect our group — I was able to get a quick shot of him on that branch before he went off on his business." © Ron Sorkness A Message from the President GALAPAGOS.ORG has EVOLVED! If you've visited Galapagos Conservancy's website (www.galapagos.org) recently, you may have noticed that it's undergone quite an evolution. We hope you'll stop by our new online home to check out the improvements and to admire the stunning photos on nearly every page. We boast a new blog with insights from experts on Galapagos, a Photo Gallery, and an abundance of new content on all aspects of Galapagos ranging from conservation programs to green travel to the remarkable biodiversity of the islands. Don't forget to stop by the Gift Shop or make a donation to To Blog, or Not to Blog? help us continue our efforts to save one of the world's great treasures! ’m certain I speak for many when I say that I am visitors to this important and vulnerable archipelago. Irelieved that William Shakespeare did not wrestle with And they continue to ask about the new science being this particular issue, but the complexity of communication undertaken, new strides in management, and of course and engagement, then and now, is still with us. the health and well-being of Lonesome George! Technology has changed the way we receive and Through blogging, Facebook, Twitter, email, and other process information and, as importantly, how we define social media outlets, we are able to stay connected as a our communities not only through geography but also world community almost instantaneously. Hollywood stars through shared ideas. visiting Galapagos recently found their pictures uploaded I am mindful of this as we unveil our new website on a local Facebook page before their boat had arrived that, among other important communication tools, in Academy Bay! While this may seem invasive, this same features a blog in which GC staff and our wide network technology allows a visitor to photograph an illegal of Galapagos colleagues will be sharing their work and fishing vessel in Galapagos waters, an alien invertebrate thoughts about the islands, and asking for your important in the national park, or any number of behaviors that, if observations as we tackle the many issues surrounding not addressed immediately, can cause immense damage biodiversity conservation in Galapagos. (See the opposite to the Galapagos ecosytem. page for more on the new www.galapagos.org) But at the heart of communication is the willingness To that end, we regularly ask our supporters to fill out to share. And we are grateful that our community of survey questionnaires with details regarding their visit Galapagos supporters stays so close, so involved, and to the Galapagos Islands, their recommendations, and so relentlessly positive about what Galapagos means to areas of concern. And, we always receive some very them and how they can continue to be part of protecting thoughtful observations that many of our members kindly and preserving these enchanted islands. allow us to share. The Galapagos community is remarkably cohesive and passionate. The notes we've received from recent visitors and our long-standing donors reveal a strong sense of responsibility. That someone can visit the Johannah E. Barry Galapagos Islands once and take away from that President transformational experience a lifetime of engagement Note about LONESOME GEORGE: speaks volumes about how Galapagos is not simply a destination but an experience. Visitors express a range As this issue of Galpagos News was going to press, we learned of concerns about invasive species and economic of the sad news of Lonesome George's death. We plan to development, and question their own responsibility as dedicate the Fall 2012 issue to George and his legacy. Galapagos Conservancy 11150 Fairfax Blvd., Fairfax, VA 22030 USA Tel: 703.383.0077 Fax: 703.383.1177 Email: [email protected] Web: www.galapagos.org GC Meets all 20 BBB Galapagos News is a twice-yearly publication that is produced for Galapagos Conservancy supporters and friends. The information in this issue was obtained from various sources, all of which have extensive knowledge of Galapagos. Neither GC nor the contributors Charity Standards are responsible for the accuracy of the contents or the opinions expressed. Editor: Henry Nichols Designer: Lori Ulrich Galapagos News is printed on recycled paper. GOING GREEN: Help us help the environment by requesting to receive this newsletter by email instead of by mail. It's simple: email [email protected]. Put "Galapagos News by email" in the subject line, and include your full name and address in the body. 3 NEW ROUTES PHILORNIS WORKSHOP DEEPWATER CATSHARK FROM As of February 2012, tourist vessels An international team of specialists have been following new itineraries gathered in Galapagos in February Scientists conducting designed by the GNP. Vessels are no to work on a plan to control Philornis deep-sea research longer allowed to visit the same site downsi, the invasive parasitic fly that is in Galapagos have more than once in any 14-day period, attacking more than a dozen described a new though most operators still have the Galapagos species, including the species of catshark NEWS flexibility to let passengers on and off critically endangered Mangrove and given it the name to cater to customers wanting shorter Finch, Medium Tree Finch, and Bythaelurus giddingsi. trips. “The new itineraries are a great Floreana Mockingbird. The workshop, The new shark is step forward for both enhancing co-funded by the Galapagos approximately a foot long and has Sciences of Academy California GALAPAGOS © the visitor experience and reducing Conservation Trust and Galapagos impacts at the individual visitor sites,” Conservancy, raised awareness of chocolate-brown says Linda Cayot, science advisor to this parasite, identified priorities for coloration with pale, Galapagos Conservancy, USA. further research into its biology, and irregularly distributed spots on its body. “The discovery of a new shark species established a five-year plan to develop is always interesting, particularly at this time when sharks are facing such incredible new methods of control. human pressure,” says John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences, one of two researchers who first observed the species from a submersible in the WATER TREATMENT late 1990s. “Since this catshark’s range is restricted to the Galapagos Islands, its population is likely limited in size, making it more vulnerable than more widely Construction of a new sewage and distributed species,” he says. water treatment plant has begun on San Cristóbal. Until now, 70% of the island’s population has relied on a system that discharges waste directly ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF EL MIRADOR Yale University Yale into the sea. The new plant will use In May, members of the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) staff assisted © the latest technology to reduce the at the presentation of the Environmental Impact Study for the development of El potential damage to public health and Mirador, a new residential area in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. The GNPS "EXTINCT" FLOREANA TORTOISES ON ISABELA Samantha Singer the environment, and enable some © required the municipality of Santa Cruz to conduct the study in order to reduce A species of Galapagos tortoise — thought to be extinct for more than 150 water to be recycled for use in the Building materials being unloaded potential negative impacts on the surrounding fragile ecosystem. years — may, in fact, be alive and well on a different island, according to a recent municipal gardens. in Puerto Ayora. study by geneticists at Yale University. The main concerns addressed in the study were: “edge effect” (the boundary between After the arrival of humans in Galapagos in the 16th century, the tortoises the new urban area and protected park areas), light pollution, urban heat, pollution of water sources (grietas) from street of Floreana Island were hit particularly hard by hungry pirates and whalers in PELICAN RESEARCH run-off, and social conflict among residents. Recommendations to reduce these impacts included: restricting residential search of fresh meat. Since about 1850, there has not been a single sighting traffic zones, reducing street widths, using LED lamps and screens, and using native plant species. In addition, modern, of Chelonoidis elephantopus and, for nearly a century and a half, the species Research is underway to study environmentally-friendly building materials will be favored over the traditional and unsustainable concrete used in many existing has been considered extinct. But recent research provides strong evidence that the Brown Pelican, an endemic Galapagos homes. Special consideration will also be given to Biodigestor tanks for wastewater management so that water can purebred Floreana tortoises are still alive on Isabela Island's Wolf Volcano. Galapagos species about which be recycled for other purposes. surprisingly little is known. As of Back in 2008, a team of geneticists and rangers from the Galapagos National January, GNP and CDF staff have Park (GNP) managed to collect DNA from 1,669 tortoises found on Wolf Volcano, been capturing the birds in estimated to be 20% of the volcano’s tortoise population.