these digital volunteers use the “zooniverse” forum to click through aerial photographs and count the number of iguanas in order to inform future conservation practices. such conservation practices matter for marine iguanas, who can lose anywhere from 10 to 90% of their population to starvation during warm-water el niño years. in this story, naturalists explain how “imps of darkness,”  in spite of their extreme boom-and-bust population cycles, offer crucial insights into adaptation, resilience, and evolution.

to continue reading, click on the full story below!

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. we thank lindblad expeditions for their support of our project.

click below to learn more about the past, present, and future of marine protection in the galápagos.

i was given the opportunity to travel on board the national geographic endeavour ii with lindblad expeditions when i won planet forward’s storyfest prize in 2020. and as the date of the voyage grew closer (delayed somewhat due to covid), i began to research potential topics that i could report on while in the archipelago. one area of interest that struck me was understanding how conservation efforts in the galápagos empowered local populations.

in school, many of us learn how the geographic isolation of these islands lead to its incredible array of endemic species. we learn about darwin’s great voyage, about his theory of evolution that shaped modern day science. but what many of us don’t learn about is that four of these islands are not only home to finches and frigates, but also populated by humans—about 30,000 individuals in fact.

navigating the fine line between environmental protection and human development is by no means easy. life as a galápaganian is especially restrictive coming from a western point of view; buying a new car—or even driving a personal car in the galápagos—for example, is virtually impossible. since 97% of the islands are protected and restricted, except for those visiting through a tourism agency, many locals don’t get to experience the isolated wilderness that foreigners see upon visiting. in fact, if locals wish to the remaining 97% of the islands — the protected and uninhabited islands — they must also go through a tourism agency. in the galapagos, one cannot visit national park territory without being part of a licensed tourism operation with a licensed naturalist. experiences like these, like on a cruise, cost a minimum of thousands of dollars, preventing so many locals from ever having this opportunity.

bolstering local communities and empowering the next generation are imperatives for long-term sustainable conservation. if people who live in the galápagos are not provided adequate opportunities to visit, explore, and learn about the importance of the islands, there is far less of an incentive to love, and thus conserve them.

i was pleased to learn that as part of their mission to use the power of travel for positive change, lindblad expeditions has raised more than $19 million for conservation, scientific research, and local communities. lindblad is also a 100% carbon neutral company. in the galápagos specifically, from 2019 to 2020 lindblad funded grants for four different conservation organizations, focusing specifically on education, research, technology, and storytelling.

additionally, since 1999 lindblad has participated in a galápagos national park program called explora galápagos, in which tourism companies partner with the program to bring local teachers, farmers, students, and other community members out to explore their home islands’ wild and remote sites. the program’s goal is simple: to educate about the unique archipelago and all it beholds, and to inspire stewardship of the islands.

i was curious to learn about exactly how participating in a lindblad expedition reflects onto local populations, and exactly what areas of conservation are a priority.

on board the 96-guest equipped national geographic endeavour ii, i met adrián vasquez, who works as a video chronicler, documenting our expedition. adrián grew up on the island of san cristobal, and previously worked as a ministerial communications and video production advisor for the government council of galápagos, which focuses on improving social problems in the archipelago. 

“lindblad in the past had only international video chroniclers, but now they only have local video chroniclers. that is very important,” adrián said. “it shows that the local people are very important for the islands.”

in december 2020, lindblad in conjunction with island conservation, an international nonprofit conservation organization, launched the galapagos island relief fund, a program providing financial relief for galápaganians impacted by the pandemic. sven lindblad, the founder and ceo of lindblad expeditions, explained when the program was announced, “stimulating the local economy through community micro-loans has the power to activate a thriving system—helping entrepreneurs and small business owners develop new ideas to complement sustainable tourism and meeting the needs of the local community long after the pandemic is over.”

i am emboldened by the mission of lindblad expeditions, after seeing firsthand the commitment of their team to work toward ecofriendly tourism solutions, rather simply aiming for profit, like many other enterprises. and i’m hopeful that the next generation of naturalists, photographers, and educators have been inspired by their experience among the wilds of galápagos as much as i was.

charles darwin described this kind of process in his theory of evolution, which he developed after traveling around the world and collecting specimens from numerous locations, including, notably, the galápagos islands, home to the well-known darwin finches. 

“the natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else,” darwin wrote about the islands in “voyages of the adventure and beagle.”

today, the galápagos islands are home to numerous endemic species. almost all of the reptiles found in galápagos and about 40% of the land birds are endemic to the region, gallo said. the islands are also home to endemic plant species, endemic mammals and endemic marine birds. 

“the lava lizards are endemic, the giant tortoises are endemic, the marine iguanas are endemic, the land iguanas are endemic,” gallo said, listing just some of the species unique to the galápagos islands. 

“this is a concern for several of the small populations that we have in the galápagos that are unique, like the flightless cormorants that are just found here in the western part of the archipelago, nowhere else in the galápagos: if there is any big change, those animals are threatened with extinction,” gallo said. 

one of those changes is the introduction of new species with which endemic species have trouble competing. “[endemic species] have adapted so much to their environment that something very small can wipe them out,” gallo said. 

for example, the parasitic philornis downsi fly was accidentally introduced to the galápagos islands in the 1960s, and it brought some of the darwin finches to the brink of extinction, gallo said. rats that eat eggs and hatchlings of reptiles and birds have also threatened endemic species like giant tortoises, but researchers have been making progress in efforts to eradicate the rats.

some species of tortoises have disappeared from the islands, too, gallo said, because they were a popular source of food for whalers and other humans in the past. researchers are working to recover declining tortoise populations, though, and they even recently found a tortoise on fernandina island that is from a species that was believed to be extinct. gallo said this is especially promising because the tracks researchers found seem to indicate that there are more than one of those tortoises present on the island.

another impending change for the archipelago is events like major storms, which are typically rare in the galápagos but could become more of a problem in the future with climate change, gallo said. impacts of hurricanes and tropical storms affecting the pacific coast of mexico can reach further south, hitting the galápagos islands with strong winds that can tear roofs off of buildings, knock down trees and create intense waves, as happened five years ago, gallo said.

el niño events can also seriously impact endemic animals in the galápagos. while they bring more rain, benefiting some plant species and the animals that feed on those plants, in the past they have led to significant drops in populations of other species like galápagos penguins and marine iguanas. some researchers worry that climate change may increase the frequency and intensity of el niño events.

although endemic species in galápagos face several challenges, gallo is ultimately optimistic about their future, saying:

“galápagos is always a place where weather is changing so much. the animals you see here, they seem so nice and so happy – they struggle for life year by year, and it’s amazing that they’re making it through. so i’m always actually more concerned here in galápagos about people than about the animals because i know how resilient they are, and they will move, and they will adapt.”

“we were kind of bored in the beginning,” juan carlos says. “back in those years the trails weren’t paved. you had to walk across lava rocks to go anywhere so we always came home with bruises and injuries on our knees.” 

earlier in his childhood, juan carlos grew up in the vibrant cloud forests of mainland ecuador. the region is considered one of the single richest biological hotspots on the planet. juan carlos could recall walking through the forest spotting a seemingly endless number of colorful birds, monkeys, and armadillos. when he moved to the galápagos islands, all he could see in the surrounding highlands of santa cruz island were just some dark colored finches. little did juan carlos know at the time that these very same finches helped charles darwin produce his theory of evolution, which changed the way in how we all understand the natural world. 

even darwin shared similar thoughts when he first landed on the galapagos 154 years before juan carlos: “nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance. a broken field of black basaltic lava, thrown into the most rugged waves, and crossed by great fissures, is everywhere covered by stunted, sun-burnt brushwood, which shows little signs of life.” 

juan carlos recalled the moment when he changed his mind about life on the enchanted islands after seeing a giant tortoise for the first time. “i couldn’t believe these big things could walk! when we were kids, there were no tvs and no electricity, so we would just get close to the giant tortoises and watch them for hours!”

as a kid growing up on the galápagos islands, juan carlos didn’t have the same access to what the tourists would see. that all changed when he won a voyage on a ship in high school to visit several other islands. 

“everything was different to me, beginning with the rocks,” he says. before his famed voyage on the h.m.s. beagle, darwin was a disinterested medical student who later found his pathway into naturalism through geology. darwin, too, made careful observations about the geological differences within the galápagos islands.

“when i arrived at north seymour island for the first time, i started to compare how it was different from santa cruz,” juan carlos says. there, he could see vast colonies of frigate birds with their characteristic red pouches, blue-footed boobies engaged in courtship rituals, and land iguanas scattered across the decorative landscape. 

“i was like, ‘oh my god! everything is so different from santa cruz!’”

as juan carlos continued his journey to the islands of espanola and floreana, he started to learn more about the human history of the galápagos. well before juan carlos’s family, and even before darwin himself arrived, many pirates, whalers, and naturalists paid the archipelago a visit. “they paved the road for people like my family to eventually come and do farming,” says juan carlos, who also now owns a farm on santa cruz island, like his father before him. 

after graduating high school, juan carlos was set on becoming a mechanical engineer on a boat, before stumbling on an opportunity to become a naturalist guide. “once i became a naturalist, i realized this is what i wanted to do (with my life),” he says. 

juan carlos has now been a naturalist guide with lindblad expeditions for 16 years. as the expedition leader aboard the national geographic endeavour ii, he enjoys working for a company like lindblad that is deeply and actively involved in the conservation of the islands. “it’s not like we just operate here, bring visitors, take photographs and then they go away. it is about bringing visitors who would like to do something to preserve these natural places,” he says. “they want to be a part of long-lasting change, and that’s what i like about this company. that is why i am here.”  

to juan carlos, the job of a naturalist has changed a lot since the days of darwin. “back in those years of exploration, during the time of darwin, a naturalist would catch and shoot animals, do taxidermy, and sell their specimens to museums and universities as a type of business,” he says. 

today, a naturalist must be a permanent resident on the galápagos islands. they no longer catch and kill animals; instead, they must keep visitors from disturbing them. “today, the connotation of a naturalist is something different. they must be somebody who knows a lot about nature, biology, and geology. they must embody the spirit of conservation and be good at passing down the messages and concepts of natural history,” juan carlos says.  

while the galápagos islands face several threats like climate change and invasive species, naturalists like juan carlos are working hard to ensure their home can continue to inspire future generations who wish to visit and conserve these enchanted islands. 

to get to the galápagos — in the pacific ocean a good distance west of ecuador — first each of our u.s.-based travelers had to complete a series of what we’re going to call “side quests,” as that’s a bit more fun than the drudgery of pre-trip covid tests, several flights, weather challenges, and extra long lines. but these quests were well worth it when we first saw the bright turquoise waters and rustic, almost desertlike landscapes — home to the incredible endemic and native species of the galápagos.

our intrepid storytellers — deepti bansal gage, jake meyers, cate twining-ward, and avery van etten — spent a week exploring several islands in the galápagos archipelago. three were aboard the national geographic endeavour ii, and avery, who persevered through weather-related travel challenges, was aboard the national geographic islander.

the sights and experiences our team — and each of our ships and fellow guests — encountered were absolutely incredible. and one of the extremely memorable parts of that, beyond the obvious, is the food served on the ship.

guests are treated to an amazing daily array of fresh foods — from local juices of fruits many of us were not familiar with, to super grains, salads, sustainable seafood, meat, vegetarian and vegan main courses, and desserts made from and highlighting tropical fruit (one dessert which was entitled “the story of the pineapple” will forever live in my mind, thank you!), and much more.

but, like everything else, lindblad took care of our food guilt too, thanks to a farm-to-table program — just one of many initiatives lindblad expeditions participates in to support locals and their economy. lindblad purchases “30-40 tons of local and organic produce annually” for its galápagos ships, according to its website. that means money is invested directly in galápagos farms and supports the people who live in the galápagos — because there’s more than just the incredible flora and fauna in the archipelago. there also are about 30,000 inhabitants on four islands.

on top of food for lindblad’s many guests, “100% of all other (non-produce) provisions are sourced either in the islands or from the mainland of ecuador.” all of which can provide a significant impact on the local economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism and was hard hit when covid ceased travel. the afp reported that the galápagos tourism chamber estimated that the economy lost out on $850 million from march 2020 to march 2021. since reopening in july 2021 with relaxed restrictions, the galápagos is working to rebuild — all while protecting what makes the islands unique.

you can learn more about the archipelago in the stories our team is sharing from their adventures. they cover everything from endemic species to the human inhabitants on the galápagos, to changes in protected areas and a look at the evolution of a naturalist. look for them on planetforward.org.

for convenience, i have also included the script of the poem below:

a tale of two shells by terrius harris

a place so foreign to the naked eye that travelers would call it fake; unbelievable, indescribable, but in fact, it’s just a projection of what things used to be like before mankind’s ways. 
a place untouched, now uncovered to you in a blink of an eye, this is only a glimpse of the magic that lives here on this island of life. 
an island of endemic creatures, ones not seen anywhere else before, yet two rise above the rest as through their ancient eyes, we can see the trials and tribulations that mother nature has bore. 

beginning on land we stare into your eyes, with wrinkles on your face and the scratches on your shell telling no lies.
it is you who walked among the dinosaurs in ancient times, head held tall; surviving centuries of natural disasters, and humankind, the largest threat to the environment of them all. 
we stare upon your long neck waiting for you to speak, to tell us the answer to our problems, to help us reconciliate our self-created unfortunate destiny. 
looking in your land, untouched you roam, and as we gaze upon your beauty we can find answers previously unknown. 

the giant galapagos tortoise, a species almost extinct, but with the careful planning, and intentionality of mankind, you still walk among me. 
it is here we find our lesson, it is here we find our truth, as your very existence is the answer to maintaining mankind’s historical youth. 
for you represent the environment, the land, the trees, even the air we breathe; and just as we saved you, we must act swiftly with intention to save the planet, our home to forever be. 
you teach us that leaving is not the answer, nor hoping that everything will work out is the plan, instead, you represent the work, the dedication, and the unwavering effort that must be put in by every (wo)man.

leaving the land, and diving into the sea, we find our second guardian, underneath the waves, swimming gracefully. 
as you swim away from us, seemingly set on your own journey, with a closer look we find our second lesson for learning. within a few strokes distance, yet so much space in-between, it is hard to gather a closer look at what you’re trying to show me. 
chasing you in the ocean, a place that makes up more than 70% of our home, as i get closer i notice something in your movements as you swim, it is not your strong set path that you follow as you roam. 
instead, looking closer, i can see the expression on your face; one of peace and acceptance, content, as you are one with this place. 
a lesson not easily learned, as mankind believes things can all be owned, but instead the wisdom that you bestow upon us is that we are all part of something greater and many times unknown. 
for you have withstood the unwavering turning tides of time, a lesson that mankind must learn in order to survive. 
your lesson is clear as the water you swim through, and it all begins with acceptance from all of us, me and you. 
acceptance that we are only a small part of the plethora of mother earth, and a small dot in the record of time since the universal birth. 
with this said we should let the earth guide us as it pushes us towards reconciliation, with warnings like increased tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, and rising tidal basins.
just as you swim and let the tide guide you, we too should learn, to make note of mother nature’s warnings if our future is what we want to earn. 
the galapagos sea turtle, a species so unique, though others are in existence, i am forever grateful for the lessons that you’ve taught me.

divided by the land, buried beneath the sea, yet forever connected within the same destiny. 
creatures unlike any others, in a place never believed to be real, what we should learn is that all we have to do is take note from what we have seen here. 
protect our oceans, protect our lands for this is the only one we can withstand. 
this is the charge we’ve been given, this is the only lesson we need to learn, for it was said long ago when mankind thought the world was flat, that we were simply sailing through the universe on a turtles back. 
a tale of two shells, one dry, one wet, but both representing the yin and yang of our mother earth as we pledge to restore her to the magnificence that the galapagos has left.

one would think that the place that inspired charles darwin’s theory of evolution would receive any type of funding or support it needed to maintain its unique wildlife, but that was not the case. it wasn’t until the 1959 that ecuador formally made the galápagos a national park. over the decades, conservationists on the islands and in the national park battled to eradicate invasive species and get more stringent regulations put in place and enforced. today the main threat to biodiversity that the islands face is the rise in tourism. more visitors lead to more waste, more invasive stowaways species on the deliveries from the mainland, and more pollution. to manage the tourism boom, there will likely need to be more firm limitations to growth put in place on top of the strict rules that are already there. the complicated issue of how to balance people’s livelihoods with conservation will have to be answered somehow. the ones who will play the biggest role in deciding the future of the galápagos will most likely be the people most connected to the islands: the people living there today. check out the video above and see what they have to say! 

***

what is plasticus vastum?

plasticus vastum affects the lives of each and every one of us every day, and it is spreading across the earth at rates unmatched by nearly any other species to date, so why haven’t we heard about it?

the short answer is that the research on this species is new, and many are hesitant to report on the dangers of its growth, because its existence inarguably improves the quality of life of most humans today.

traces of plasticus vastum can be found in homes, automobiles, food, computers, clothing, any many other locations. it’s established a huge presence, yet we too often refuse to acknowledge it for what it is. plasticus vastum is a species belonging to the omnes materiales family, referred to by some as plastika apovlita.

the species was first discovered in 1907 by leo hendrik baekeland, a belgian born american scientist. however, it is believed that this species has dated back to the pre columbian civilizations in mesoamerica as far back as 1600 bce. plasticus vastum is a particularly diverse species, as its lifespan can range from 10 years to over 1,000 years depending on different characteristics.

it has also shown promise in adapting to different climates and is one of the few species that can survive at soil and sea. members of the species can take many different shapes and sizes, which is where they derive their name, plasticus, which means capable of shaping and molding. the species’ unique reproductive tendencies can be described through a mutualistic relationship with humans and erratic spawning.

to expand, all species belonging to the omnes materiales family have a mutualistic reproductive method with humans where, when one or many members of the species serve as a direct facilitator of human life, like bees become vehicles for the reproductions of flowers, humans become vehicles for the reproduction of species belonging to omnes materials.

for plasticus vastum in particular, humans have enabled the growth of over 6.3 billion tons of growth in only the past 70 years.  furthermore, each member of plasticus vastum can produce thousands of offspring without the need for human intervention through erratic spawning. (note: the appearance of plasticus vastum is measured by weight rather than individuals in a population solely because it is extremely difficult to count the individuals since they are constantly spawning and regrowing into various shapes and sizes.)

jessica howard, a research assistant in marine bio-invasives at the charles darwin research station, has been able to share her firsthand account of the appearance of the species in the galapagos islands.

she said it has “come in and caused problems for the endemic and native wildlife or the economy,” which is by definition an invasive species. their unique reproductive tendencies, where any single being can produce thousands of offspring, but the offspring can’t grow without a mutualistic relationship with humans, highlight the extreme danger of this invasive species to spread rapidly, but also give hope that humans could learn to adjust their ways to prevent the growth of offspring.

we may need to act fast, however, because the wildlife of the galapagos islands are already facing a struggle for existence to accommodate the large amounts of plasticus vastum.

its bearing on natural selection

before entering the subject of this chapter i must make a few preliminary remarks to inform the reader of the connection between charles darwin, the struggle for existence and its bearing on natural selection, and plasticus vastum in the galapagos islands.

“on the origin of species,” published on nov. 24, 1859, is a work of scientific literature by charles darwin which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. the third chapter of this book is titled “struggle for existence” and it serves as an introduction to darwin’s main argument for natural selection. charles darwin’s theory was heavily influenced by his travels to the galapagos islands. in fact, our first association with the word “galapagos” very well may be darwin, or perhaps darwin’s finches.

in this chapter, darwin uses botany, zoology, and mathematics to get to the heart of his argument on natural selection, and today, we are going to revise his argument with our modern knowledge of plasticus vastum. while plasticus vastum has been showing up across the globe, the focus in this essay will be its appearance in the galapagos islands in honor of charles darwin’s studies there. for the remainder of this essay, we will refer to plasticus vastum as pv for brevity. direct quotes from darwin will be in italics, whereas my own analysis will be in regular print.

the term, struggle for existence, used in a wide sense

“i should premise that i use this term in a large and metaphorical sense, including not only the life of the individual, but success in leaving progeny. two canine animals in a time of dearth, may be truly said to struggle with each other which shall get food and live. but a plant on the edge of a desert is said to struggle for life against the drought, though more properly it should be said to be dependent on the moisture. a plant which annually produces a thousand seeds, of which on an average only one comes to maturity, may be more truly said to struggle with the plants of the same and other kinds which already clothe the ground. the missletoe is dependent on the apple and a few other trees, but can only in a far-fetched sense be said to struggle with these trees, for if too many of these parasites grow on the same tree, it will languish and die. but several seedling missletoes, growing close together on the same branch, may more truly be said to struggle with each other. as the missletoe is disseminated by birds, its existence depends on birds; and it may metaphorically be said to struggle with other fruit-bearing plants, in order to tempt birds to devour and thus disseminate its seeds rather than those of other plants. in these several senses, which pass into each other, i use for convenience sake the general term of struggle for existence.”

it is important to note here that the particular struggles that pv face are not completely understood, but there does seem to be a correlation between human carriers of pv and its profound growth in recent years. due to its mutualistic relationship with humans, it could be hypothesized that it struggles with other species of the omnes materiales family whom could fill its mutualistic niche with humans.

similar to the missletoe’s struggle with other fruit-bearing plants, in tempting birds to disseminate its seeds rather than those of other plants, pv struggles to tempt humans to facilitate it’s growth and disseminate its progeny rather than those of other species belonging to omnes materiales.

an important discussion, however, is not how pv struggles with other species, but how many species are struggling because of pv. pv, with its many shapes and sizes, can be mistaken for food by many lifeforms, but scientists agree that it does not provide enough nutritional content to sustain any of these animals, which can lead to their eventual death.

more intelligent lifeforms may not mistake pv for their typical food, but they are susceptible to contamination by consuming prey that have ingested pv. pv has been found in the stomachs of sea turtles, sea lions, birds, iguanas, tortoises, and fish, and it is currently one of the greatest threats to these galápaganian species.

that is why there have been tremendous efforts in the islands to reduce the presence of pv, many of which have been successful. however, a single nations efforts to reduce an invasive species which has the means to travel via land and sea with lifespans upwards of 1,000 years is insufficient, as evidenced by the findings of pv originating from peru and other countries showing  up in the galapagos islands.

so with the unsuccessful efforts of pv eradication, how should we anticipate the struggle for existence of the many beautiful and unique lifeforms in the galapagos islands to be challenged by pv?

geometrical ratio of increase

“a struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase. every being, which during its natural lifetime produces several eggs or seeds, must suffer destruction during some part of it’s life, and during some season or occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical increase, its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that no country could support the product.”

by this principle, more individuals are produced than can possibly ever survive, so in every case, including pv, there must be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or with individuals of a distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life.

it is likely unlikely for pv to struggle within itself, and it has been shown to survive in many extreme climates and conditions, so the question of eradicating plastic as an invasive species seems to fall into the category of struggle for existence with individuals of a distinct species, which can fulfill the same niche.

when you hear about the galápagos, you think pristine biodiversity. but the island ecosystem and its native flora and fauna are actually under attack by multiple invasive species, one of which is threatening none other than darwin’s finches.

learn more about the history, research, and action plan behind this environmental emergency below.