A Brief Historical View Of
The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

            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.

– Darwin