Special Sub-Topic: The Galapagos Islands Authored by: damnsuicidalroos Sub-topic of: Ecuador

Around 1475 the Inca king Tupac Yupanqui is said to have found two "islands of fire". It`s possible, though not likely, that he was the first man to discover the Galapagos Islands. It is more probable that he was actually referring to Easter Island. What is the name of the first European credited with discovering the Galapagos Islands in 1535?

Fray Tomás de Berlanga. The discovery of the Galapagos Islands was actually accidental. The ship in which Fray Tomás de Berlanga was traveling had become becalmed and had drifted towards the islands.

The first map of the Galapagos Islands was made not by a cartographer [professional map maker], but by a man named Ambrose Cowley. What was the usual profession of Ambrose Cowley?

Buccaneer. The Galapagos Islands were home to many buccaneers,pirates and privateers [mostly English] in the late 1600s. The islands made a great base of operations for those that preyed upon the Spanish galleons returning from the New World.

In the eighteen hundreds the whalers of the day found it profitable to kill whales in the South American seas. Which whale was most commonly killed in the waters around the Galapagos Islands?

Sperm whale. The effect these whalers had has stayed with the islands to this day. The almost extinction of the sperm whales and the slaughtering of thousands of elephant tortoises is something that may not allow either species to regain their previous population levels.

Which year did Ecuador claim possession of the Galapagos Islands?

1832. The first governor of the Galapagos Islands was Jose Villamil. He established a penal colony there.

The islands were visited in 1835 by Charles Darwin. He spent five weeks on the islands observing,collecting and preserving specimens. What was the name of the ship that Darwin sailed to the Galapagos Islands on?

HMS Beagle. The studies conducted on the Galapagos Islands by Darwin assisted him to reach his theory on Natural Selection which was presented in his book "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection".

The Galapagos Islands consist of thirteen major islands, eight smaller islands and forty islets. What is the name of the largest of the islands?

Isabela. Volcan Wolf the highest geographical point on the islands is on Isabela.

During World War 2 the United States built an airfield on which island in the Galapagos group?

Baltra. The airfield is still in use today. The United States also constructed a naval base there at the same time. Both the airfield and the naval base were built with the permission of the Ecuadorian government and were handed back to Ecuador after hostilities with Japan were ended.

English is widely spoken on the Galapagos Islands, but it is not the official language. What is the official language of the islands?

Spanish. The official name of the Galapagos Islands is Archipiélago de Colón .

Approximately how many visitors do the islands receive each year?

Sixty thousand. Whilst this might seem a lot of people traveling to such a valued area, no visitors are allowed to travel through the national park without a trained national park guide. There are also many areas that people are simply not allowed to enter.

Which of the following is not a creature found on the Galapagos Islands?

Red crested boobie. There may not be any red crested boobies on the islands but there are blue footed boobies,red footed boobies and masked boobies.