Galapagos Islands History

Have you ever thought about seeing a part of the world that is about 4 million years old? What about seeing the distinguished giant tortoises and marine iguanas or adventuring with the famed Charles Darwin? If so, travel roughly 600 miles west of Ecuador’s mainland in South America and you enter one of the world’s most dynamic volcanic areas, the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. The Galapagos consists of approximately 14 volcanic islands of which certain islands are still in the process of making their formations, while the most aged islands of the Galapagos are over 4 million years old.

The Galapagos Islands were discovered unintentionally. In 1535 a bishop, Father Tomas Berlanga, from Panama, was sailing to Peru to resolve a quarrel among his fellow sailors when the winds shifted direction and, consequently, caused rapid changes to the strong currents of Pacific Ocean, carrying him and his crew to a set of an unknown island formation. Berlanga observed and noted the Galapagos’ harsh, desert-like surroundings where giant tortoises, marine iguanas, sea lions, and many types of indigenous birds roam free. The newly-found islands resembled that of giant tortoise saddles, “Galapagos,” and he reported this discovery to King Charles V of Spain. The islands were officially named Galapagos Archipelago.

After the discovery, The Galapagos Islands became a hiding place for pirates on the South American continent and privateers plundering on Spanish coastal towns. They began haunting the whales and seals and hunting fur seals and giant tortoises. There were many unique varieties of tortoises on many of the islands. However, the attacks caused several species into abrupt extinction and the other species on the endangered list. Today, "Lonesome George" a male Pinta Island Tortoise, is the only surviving tortoise of his species and is living well at the Darwin Research Station located on Santa Cruz Island. This very popular highlight of the Galapagos can be seen on many of the ship itineraries that we feature.

In 1835, Charles Darwin made the first known scientific study of the Galapagos. Darwin was a student and the naturalist on board the HMS Beagle (1831 - 1836). During his 5 years on board the HMS Beagle, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was derived within these years. Once he landed on the islands, Darwin noticed many species of tortoises and iguanas. He also saw many birds which live nowhere else on earth. He began to question where these animals originated and how they came to live on these islands. They resembled the animals that lived on the mainland, but they were not the same animals. Eight years later, Darwin wrote to his colleague, Sir Joseph Hooker that, “At last gleams of light have come, and I am almost convinced (quite to the contrary to the opinion I started with) that species are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable.” In contrast to the belief that God created all plants and animals, which have not changed significantly, Darwin’s observations clarified that they have changed. Darwin spent 20 years gathering evidence and in 1859 he published The Origin of the Species by Natural Selection. He believed that the species steadily altered to survive the Galapagos environmental conditions. Darwin recognized that the Galapagos were the foundations of which all his ideas and research evolved. The visitors that travel to the Galapagos associate these magnificent islands with Charles Darwin. Discover the Galapagos Islands with your family by ship, diving, or in a Galapagos hotel.

“If there is the slightest foundation for evolution, the zoology of the Galapagos will be well worth examining…”

- Charles Darwin A passage from his ornithological notebooks

Since the year 1832 the Galapagos have been owned by Ecuador. It was not until 1959 that the islands became a National Park in which tourism did not begin until the mid 1960s. By the late 1970’s the Galapagos Islands were recognized for their magnificent value to mankind and declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The islands are maintained and operated by the Ecuador and Galapagos National Park Services and the Charles Darwin Research Station. About 96% of the islands are part of the national park with the remaining 4% inhabited by about 14,000 people (mostly on the island of Santa Cruz). Annually, approximately 100,000 visitors from all over the world examine the Galapagos Islands personally and submerge themselves in the wonders and mysteries that the islands can offer to them.

© Wildlife Vacations, Inc. 2009