Spring/Summer 2025 - Galapagos Matters - Galapagos Conservation Trust

SPRING
SUMMER
2025
GCT at 30
Celebrating 30 years of protecting
the Galapagos Islands
galapagosconservation.org.uk

Contents
4 – 5 Galapagos News
6 – 7 Wild Galapagos
8 – 9 Project Updates
10 – 11
Elemental Galapagos
Henry Nicholls explores the forces that
shaped the Galapagos Islands and filled
them with life.
12 – 15
30 years of GCT
We look back at the evolution of Galapagos
Conservation Trust over the past three
decades, celebrating our successes and
remembering the many wonderful people
who have helped and supported us along
the way.
16
Evolution in real time
An interview with Peter and Rosemary Grant,
who have been studying Darwin’s finches in
Galapagos since 1973.
17
A tale of two giants
Rich Baxter looks at the parallel histories of
Aldabra and Galapagos giant tortoises, and
the ways in which both are now helping to
restore island ecosystems.
18 – 20
Beyond Darwin’s Arch: A decade of
tracking whale sharks
Dr Alex Hearn reflects on the challenges and
achievements of the past ten years tracking
whale sharks in Galapagos.
21
Ocean guardians: The role of whale sharks
in carbon capture
Sofía Green reveals how marine megafauna
such as whale sharks help our oceans to act
as natural carbon sinks.
22 – 23 Supporter News, Events & Merchandise
Galapagos Past
The crack of doom
By Henry Nicholls
Historians are very wary of the first-hand accounts of the
American explorer Benjamin Morrell, described by one
of his contemporaries as “the biggest liar in the Pacific”.
But we can be confident he witnessed one of the most
dramatic eruptions to occur in the Galapagos Archipelago
since its discovery in 1535.
Morrell reached Galapagos exactly 200 years ago, in
1825, and dropped anchor in Tagus Cove on the western
coast of Isabela. A few days later, Fernandina – just a
few kilometres away – blew its top in a most spectacular
and, if Morrell’s magniloquent account is to be believed,
alarming fashion. ‘At two o’clock A.M,’ he wrote, ‘while
the sable mantle of night was yet spread over the mighty
Pacific… our ears were suddenly assailed by a sound that
could only be equalled by ten thousand thunders bursting
from the air at once.’
This ‘crack of doom’ brought Morrell and all the men on
deck, ‘where they stood gazing like “sheeted spectres,”
speechless and bewildered with astonishment and
dismay. The heavens appeared to be in one blaze of fire,
intermingled with millions of falling stars and meteors;
while the flames shot upward from the peak… to the
height of at least two thousand feet in the air.’
By about four in the morning, ‘the boiling contents of the
tremendous caldron had swollen to the brim, and poured
over the edge of the crater in a cataract of liquid fire.’
A ‘dazzling stream’ of lava almost half a kilometre wide
had ‘the appearance of a tremendous torrent of melted
iron running from the furnace.’ When the lava met the
ocean, the uproar was ‘dreadful indeed’.
After several hours, the sea temperature had risen to a
dangerously hot 37° C and the air an oppressive 45°C.
There was no wind that would allow Morrell and his
men to navigate out of this tight spot. When the air
temperature reached 50° C, the glue-like resin holding
the vessel together started to melt, with tar dripping from
the rigging.
At last, ‘a breath of a light zephyr’ began to strengthen,
and Morrell weighed anchor. The wind created a new
problem, spreading what seemed to be a ‘mass of flame’
from Fernandina that cut off their safe passage to the
open Pacific. The only option was to head south, which
meant passing even closer to Fernandina’s shoreline.
Eventually, Morrell reached Floreana, where Fernandina’s
crater still appeared ‘like a colossal beacon-light, shooting
its vengeful flames high into the gloomy atmosphere, with
a rumbling noise like distant thunder.’
© Martin Symonds
Cover image © Meera Sulaiman
2
Galapagos Matters

From the
Chief Executive
By Dr Jen Jones
The fifth round of negotiations on the
future UN Global Plastics Treaty, which
took place in Busan in November, was
supposed to be the session where
the Treaty was finalised. The fact that
negotiators were unable to agree a
deal in time was disappointing for two
reasons. Firstly, and most importantly,
plastic pollution is an urgent crisis
that simply can’t wait. But it was also
frustrating because all delegates
present knew that, by the time talks
resumed in 2025, a different President
would be in office in the US, with a
very different agenda.
The return of Donald Trump has
inevitably dominated the news cycle
over the past few months, and I’m
sure you share our concern over what
this means for the natural world. Given
how urgently we need to tackle the
intersecting crises of climate change,
biodiversity loss and pollution, it can
be hugely dispiriting to see hardfought
progress halted, policies
reversed and funding withdrawn at
the stroke of a pen. In our modern era
of smartphones, social media and the
24-hour news cycle, it’s hard to take a
step back and see the bigger picture.
But the world is more than one man,
or indeed one country, and four
years is a blink of an eye when you
take the long view, which is exactly
what we’re doing in this edition of
Galapagos Matters. Consider, for
example, the fact that the oldest of
the Galapagos Islands, San Cristobal,
is over three million years old, and
yet the Archipelago is very young in
the context of deep geological time.
The Islands were shaped by elemental
forces and colonised by hardy pioneer
species on a timescale that is difficult
for the human brain to fathom
(p.10-11).
Conversely, change can happen
incredibly quickly, before our very
eyes. Charles Darwin believed that
evolution was impossible to study
in real time because it happens too
slowly, but we now know this to be
false thanks to Peter and Rosemary
Grant’s 40-year study of the finches
that bear his name (p.16). And we
know that, when nature is restored,
ecosystems can quickly start to heal,
whether it’s the reintroduction of giant
tortoises to degraded island habitats
(p.17) or measures to protect marine
ecosystems that act as natural carbon
sinks (p. 21). The natural world is
forever surprising us with its resilience
and ability to adapt.
This year we are celebrating our 30 th
anniversary, and while many of the
challenges that were present in 1995
have only become more urgent, this
milestone is an opportunity to reflect
on just how much we’ve been able to
achieve over the last three decades
(p.12-15). It is no exaggeration to
say that, without the conservation
projects that GCT and our many
partners have supported over the last
30 years, we would have seen more
extinctions, fewer fish in the ocean,
weaker environmental protections and
a growing disconnection between
people and nature in the Archipelago.
Instead we can celebrate whole
islands cleared of invasive species, an
expanded marine reserve, pioneering
legislation to protect the Islands,
and an incredible community of
Galapagos-born conservation leaders,
researchers and educators who I just
know are going to do amazing things
over the next 30 years. Real change
starts at the grassroots, and the
seeds you have helped us to plant in
Galapagos are only just getting going.
Whether you have been a GCT
supporter since day one, or you’re
finding out about us for the first time,
you are a vital part of this mission, and
I hope we can count on your support
for many years to come. We couldn’t
do this without you.
Jen
Galapagos Matters is a copyright biannual
publication produced for members of
Galapagos Conservation Trust.
The information in this issue was obtained
from various sources, all of which have
extensive knowledge of Galapagos, but
neither GCT nor the contributors are
responsible for the accuracy of the contents
or the opinions expressed herein.
ISSN 2050-6074 Galapagos Matters is
printed on paper made from well managed
forests and controlled sources.
Editors: Henry Nicholls & Tom O’Hara
Chief Executive: Dr Jen Jones
Designer: The Graphic Design House
Printer: Purple Results
020 7399 7440
gct@gct.org
galapagosconservation.org.uk
Spring | Summer 2025
3

Galapagos News
UN Global Plastics Treaty talks stall
Delegates failed to reach agreement
on a Global Plastics Treaty at the fifth
round of negotiations, which took
place in November in Busan, South
Korea. The Treaty was intended to
be finalised by the end of 2024, but
talks have now been adjourned and
will resume later this year. Progress
on the text continues to be held back
by a small number of oil-producing
countries that are opposed to
capping plastic production, including
Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other
Gulf States.
Although the GCT team did not
attend the Busan talks in person,
we played a leading role in coordinating
a policy brief on behalf
of a broad coalition of Pacific island
territories, providing guidance and
practical recommendations for
the negotiators to deliver a treaty
that addresses the specific needs
of islands such as Galapagos. Our
partners in developing the policy
brief included the Municipalities of
Rapa Nui and Juan Fernández, the
Galapagos National Park Directorate
and Oceans Finance Company.
We also collaborated to create an
impactful video raising up the voices
of islanders across the Pacific, which
was shown at a United Nations
Environment Programme event
in Busan.
GCT continues to campaign for a
strong and legally-binding treaty
that bans single-use plastics, tackles
the proliferation of waste from
fisheries and other maritime sources,
and accelerates the transition to
a truly circular economy, while
making polluters pay to clean up
their mess. We are also calling on
UN member states to support the
Ecuadorian government in hosting
the symbolic signing of the treaty in
Galapagos itself.
To read the policy brief and
add your name in support, visit
galapagosconservation.org.uk/inc-5
Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ecuador’s Ambassador to the
UK, chairing negotiations in Busan © UNEP
Ecuadorian election
is too close to call
Ecuador’s presidential election will go
to a run-off in April after no candidate
secured the 50% of the vote needed to
win outright. After a virtual tie in the first
round, incumbent president Daniel Noboa
will once again face off against Luisa
González, who he defeated in 2023. The
campaign was dominated by continuing
worries over security in some areas of
mainland Ecuador, as well as an energy
crisis that has hit parts of the country with
rolling black-outs. Noboa has courted
controversy in Galapagos in recent months
by approving a resolution that allows US
military vessels to conduct patrols from
Galapagos targetting drug traffickers
in the Eastern Pacific. Local community
leaders have raised concerns about
the impact of constructing new military
facilities on the Archipelago’s fragile
natural environment, and GCT is seeking
clarification on the government’s plans.
Chemical pollution in Galapagos
A new study published in December 2024 examines the
drivers, sources, distribution and fate of oil, plastics, pesticides,
persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals in the Galapagos
Marine Reserve, identifying pollutant hotspots and evaluating
rapid assessment methods and sentinel species that could aid
regional monitoring. The study was co-authored by members
of the Pacific Plastics: Science to Solutions network (led by GCT
and the University of Exeter), and recommends that intervention
strategies should be particularly focused on harbour areas in the
Archipelago. Read more: bit.ly/Galapagos-Pollution
GCT founder honoured
GCT Ambassador Julian Fitter, one of our founders and our first
Chair, has been made a member of the New Zealand Order
of Merit in recognition of more than 50 years of service to
conservation and wildlife. Julian lived in Galapagos from 1964 to
1979, where he worked at the Charles Darwin Foundation. He is
also a founder Trustee of Falklands Conservation and established
Friends of Galapagos New Zealand, along with a number of other
environmental initiatives in his adopted home.
4
Galapagos Matters

Craghoppers short films
showcase GCT’s work
Our corporate partner Craghoppers has released
a series of three short films documenting the work
of GCT. Filmed on location in Galapagos, the films
celebrate the work of three inspiring Ecuadorian
women: Lucía Norris, GCT’s Programmes and Policy
Manager; Dr Diana Pazmiño, lecturer at Universidad
San Francisco de Quito and co-founder of the Gills
Club; and Sofía Green, marine biologist with the
Galapagos Whale Shark Project. To find out more
and watch the films, visit bit.ly/craghoppers-gct
Filming Sofía Green and the Gills Club on Santa Cruz © Charlie Pinder / Craghoppers
Long-lining ban
in Galapagos
upheld
Galapagos rail © Agustín Gutiérrez
Galapagos rail rediscovered on Floreana
The Galapagos rail, a secretive bird thought to be extinct on Floreana, has
been found on the island for the first time since Charles Darwin observed it in
1835. This small terrestrial bird is a poor flier, making it particularly vulnerable
to introduced predators such as cats and rats, and it was thought to have
been driven to extinction. However, during their most recent annual landbird
monitoring trip to Floreana, scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation and
Galapagos National Park rangers recorded its presence at three different sites.
Researchers will now carry out genetic sampling to determine whether this is
a reintroduced lineage or a remnant population that has managed to remain
undetected for all this time. Read more: bit.ly/Galapagos-Rail
The Ecuadorian Ministry of
Environment has confirmed
that it will uphold the
prohibition of long-line
fishing in the Galapagos
Marine Reserve, which has
been in place since 2008.
The statement followed a
meeting in January with
artisanal fishers who have
been pushing for a reversal
of the ban. Long-lining is
a fishing method which
has a devastating effect
on non-target species
such as sharks, and GCT
was one of a number of
organisations that issued
public statements in support
of the Ministry’s decision.
Spring | Summer 2025
5

Wild
Galapagos
Common name:
Red-billed tropicbird
Scientific name:
Phaethon aethereus
Spanish name:
Rabijunco piquirrojo
Conservation status:
Least Concern
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Average size:
90 – 105 centimetres
6
Galapagos Matters

© Tim Karels
Every year we are blown away by the consistently high quality
of the entries to our Galapagos Photography Competition. This
stunning shot of a red-billed tropicbird, by wildlife biologist Tim
Karels, was the winner of our ‘Birds of Galapagos’ category last
year. If you have some Galapagos snaps of your own that you’d
like to share, please enter this year’s competition! It doesn’t
matter whether or not they’re recent, as long as you haven’t
entered them into the competition before.
Find out more: galapagosconservation.org.uk/photos
Spring | Summer 2025
7

Project
Updates
© Edinson Cardenas (GNPD)
GCT and Galapagos National Park Directorate release landmark
report on plastic pollution
In September we published our joint report ‘Plastic
Pollution Free Galapagos: 5 Years of Science to
Solutions’, presenting the most detailed picture to date
of the threat that coastal plastic pollution poses to the
Galapagos Islands.
We launched the Plastic Pollution Free Galapagos
programme in May 2018 to support local efforts to tackle
plastic pollution in Galapagos. Research carried out by
GCT and our partners has focused on three key areas:
• the sources of plastic pollution in Galapagos
• the effects of plastic pollution (both on local ecosystems
and on related economic activity)
• the potential solutions to tackling plastic pollution
The report covers our current knowledge on the
international plastic footprint affecting Galapagos,
highlighting oceanic inputs and the impacts on wildlife
and communities. Our findings underline the urgent
need for world leaders to agree an ambitious, legallybinding
Global Plastics Treaty that bans single-use
plastics, accelerates the transition to a circular economy,
strengthens international laws on waste management at
sea and enforces the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
The report was formally launched at an event at the
Galapagos National Park headquarters on Santa Cruz,
attended by local media, and findings from the report
have also been covered by international media including
the Guardian.
To download and read the report, visit bit.ly/PPFG-5-Years
© Jess Howard
PPSS meeting in Quito
The impact of our plastics programme has been enhanced
by the creation of the Pacific Plastics: Science to Solutions
(PPSS) network, co-led by GCT and the University of Exeter,
which brings together researchers, NGOs, governments
and businesses across the Eastern Tropical Pacific region. In
November, the network came together in Quito for a threeday
workshop to review the progress made over the last five
years, develop recommendations for policy solutions and
identify opportunities for future collaboration, including key
research gaps in the region.
8
Galapagos Matters

Alberto Andrade at COP16 in Cali © Frente Insular
Schooling hammerheads © Alex Hearn
Community heroes: Alberto
Andrade, Frente Insular
Frente Insular de la Reserva Marina de
Galápagos is a community action group
that was founded in 2017, when a group
of citizens organised a demonstration in
response to the discovery in Galapagos
of a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel laden
with 300 tons of protected species,
including several species of shark. From
its origins advocating for the expansion
of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, Frente
has evolved into an influential movement
that is driving local action to protect the
Archipelago’s wildlife, including monthly
coastal clean-ups supported by GCT’s
Anne Guézou, and a campaign to tackle
fly-tipping on Santa Cruz.
Frente Insular is led by Alberto Andrade,
a former tourism and fishing worker who
is now a charismatic and well-known
community organiser and advocate for
conservation. He also has his own radio
show on the Islands! Alberto has been a
tireless supporter of GCT’s work on plastic
pollution, helping us to communicate
our findings to the local community. In
October he shared our plastics report
with around 550 students, 18 teachers and
100 members of the community at an event
organised by the Galapagos Biosecurity
Agency on Santa Cruz. He then took the
message to world leaders and government
representatives attending the United
Nations COP16 Conference on Biodiversity
in Cali, Colombia, sharing the findings from
the report and forging new international
connections.
We’re honoured to have such a powerful
advocate for our work in the local
community, and we will be working closely
in the coming months with Frente Insular
to help them develop and grow as an
organisation.
Research expedition explores
Paramount seamount
In January, a team of scientists from Universidad San
Francisco de Quito, Galapagos Science Center and the
Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD), supported
by organisations including GCT, carried out a two-week
expedition to Paramount, a shallow-water seamount
located 100 nautical miles north east of the Galapagos
Marine Reserve. The seamount rises from a depth of more
than 1,500 m to just 180 m below the surface, and the
expedition aimed to investigate the fish community around
the seamount and its connections with Galapagos.
Paramount is the only shallow seamount on Ecuador’s side
of the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, a 120,000 km 2 stretch
of ocean connecting the Galapagos Marine Reserve with
Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park. Both these areas
are UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites, and previous
studies have shown that they share similar biodiversity and
that several endangered marine species, such as scalloped
hammerhead sharks and green sea turtles, migrate between
them. As they move, these animals tend to loosely follow an
underwater chain of seamounts known as the Cocos Ridge.
In recent years, Costa Rica has expanded protection around
Cocos Island, and Ecuador has created the Hermandad
Reserve, which extends protection from Galapagos all the
way to Ecuador’s maritime border with Costa Rica. However,
Paramount was left unprotected, with Hermandad’s boundary
running 17 nautical miles to the south of the seamount.
“It is important for us to understand whether our conservation
efforts within Galapagos and Hermandad may be affected
by endangered wildlife spending time at other locations
where they are not protected,” explained Harry Reyes, senior
marine biologist at the GNPD. “To this end, we were able
to place satellite tags on ten scalloped hammerhead sharks
and four pelagic thresher sharks, allowing us to track their
movements.”
Besides tracking sharks, the team used baited stereovideo
cameras to record the presence of marine wildlife in
the waters above the seamount, and they also took water
samples, which will be analysed for traces of environmental
DNA from organisms in the area. The team was accompanied
by Swedish filmmaker, explorer and ocean advocate Joakim
Odelberg, and a documentary capturing the expedition and
its findings is planned for late 2025.
Spring | Summer 2025
9

Elemental
Galapagos
By Henry Nicholls
Hidden beneath the waves, some 250 km north of Puerto Ayora and
at a depth of around 2,500 m, lies the Galapagos Rift, an east-west
cleft between the Cocos Plate to the north and the Nazca Plate to
the south. As these two tectonic plates move apart, molten rock
rises up from the Earth’s mantle to fill the space. Also out of sight,
currently lurking beneath the Galapagos island of Fernandina, is a
hotspot, a region of mantle so energetic that it can break through
a tectonic plate.
It is thought that the Galapagos
Rift and the hotspot may once have
been much closer to each other
and the complex interplay between
these two geological forces built
a broad submarine platform that
rises well above the surrounding
seafloor and less than 1,000 m below
the sea surface. Occasionally the
bubbling, effusion and explosions
of magma were so great that they
rose above the waves, giving birth to
the Galapagos Islands that we know
and love.
The first lifeforms to take a hold on
these freshly spewn landscapes of
lava were, by necessity, some of
the toughest organisms there are.
Lichens are one of the best-studied
of these so-called ‘pioneer species’,
associations between fungi and
photosynthetic microorganisms that
are dispersed as tiny spores, can
anchor themselves to bare rock,
tolerate high temperatures and
survive prolonged drought. While the
photosynthetic microbes get on with
capturing sunlight energy and making
food for both partners, the fungi
release acids onto the rock that make
minerals available for their growth.
This physical and chemical dissolution
of the rock plays a vital ecological
role, speeding up erosion and the
formation of soils in which a plant
might take root.
One of Charles Darwin’s many
conundrums after his return from
the Beagle voyage was to figure
out how the first plants might have
reached isolated barren volcanoes
like Galapagos. At his home in Kent,
he carried out experiments on almost
100 species to see if their seeds
could survive in salt water. On potting
them out into soil, almost all of them
germinated, even after weeks in
these hostile conditions. With the
currents from the South American
continent to Galapagos often running
at 100 km a day, it would take a
floating seed or tangled mass of
vegetation around one week to reach
the Islands. Darwin also imagined
an even quicker mode of travel, with
birds transporting seeds in mud
caked between their toes or secreted
safe inside their digestive tracts.
Of course, if a seed that washes up
on a Galapagos beach is to settle for
good, it must be able to survive long
periods of drought, which accounts
for the kinds of plant that inhabit
the arid lowlands of Galapagos.
For instance, it’s not that surprising
that the Opuntia cactus should have
found a footing in this habitat; these
species have a long tap root to
reach deep down for water, fleshy
pads in which to store water and
modified leaves (we call them spines)
to minimise evaporation of precious
water back to the atmosphere. It also
pays to be wind pollinated, which
is the case for the vast majority of
flowering plants in Galapagos. Insectpollinated
species have presumably
reached the Islands and may even
have germinated, but relying on
some special insect to ferry pollen
from one flower to the next is not a
great strategy in a world with so few
insects to assist. More often than not,
these would-be colonisers left no
descendants.
There are even more obvious
absences in the makeup of the
Galapagos ecosystem. There are no
amphibians, for instance: for species
with a fondness for freshwater,
1,000 km of open ocean is just
too big a leap. Most mammals
were not equipped for the journey
either: some ratty ancestors seem
to have made it, giving us the rare
Galapagos rice rat, and there are
bats that have been blown across
from the continent, but these are
exceptional cases.
Those species that had a means to
reach Galapagos and the fortuity to
survive and then reproduce began
to splinter. The many different
10
Galapagos Matters

habitats on each island and the
different islands themselves gave
plenty of opportunity for one
population to become isolated from
the next. Natural selection did the
rest, steering secluded pockets of
organisms in different directions until
they became distinct species. For
example, the first finches to have
flown to Galapagos and survive
long enough to reproduce did so
around two million years ago, but
these settlers have since diverged
into the 17 different species we find
today. The story is the same for most
lineages that have been studied and
explains why so many Galapagos
species are unique to these
islands. These so-called endemic
species were, quite simply, made
in Galapagos.
As species have come and gone
and the makeup of Galapagos
residents has evolved, so the Islands
themselves have been changing.
The Nazca Plate on which the
Islands sit is drifting east at a speed
of around 4 cm a year and taking
the Archipelago with it. In one
million years, Galapagos is likely to
have moved some 40 km towards
the continent and further from the
hotspot that played such a key role
in shaping the Islands. Away from
the hotspot, the islands cool and
contract, and erosion will eventually
weather them down beneath the
waves once more. This may not be
the end of Galapagos, of course, for
the hotspot may yet throw up more
islands in their wake, steaming towers
of undressed rock that will act as
the stage for the origin of yet more
brilliant species.
Opuntia cactus on Isabela © George Tzircotis
Henry Nicholls
is a GCT Ambassador and
editor of Galapagos Matters
magazine. He works as a
secondary school teacher but
has also spent many years as
a freelance science journalist
specialising in evolutionary
biology, the environment,
conservation and the history
of science. He has written
two books about Galapagos,
Lonesome George: The Life
and Loves of a Conservation
Icon and The Galapagos:
A Natural History.
Spring | Summer 2025
11

The evolution of
Cast your mind back, if you are
old enough, to 1995. In the
UK, an unpopular Conservative
government tries to depose its
leader, though John Major is to
survive two more years before
being swept away by Tony Blair’s
landslide Labour win. A bitter war
is still raging in Eastern Europe,
as the Bosnian conflict enters its
fourth year. And in the US, Bill
Clinton is about to embark on
the extramarital relationship that
will soon mire his presidency
in scandal. A lot can change in
30 years but, equally, we can
draw many parallels with the
modern day.
In Galapagos, we are still facing many of the
same issues that prompted the founding
of Galapagos Conservation Trust in 1995:
invasive species, overfishing and unsustainable
development. These challenges remain just as
urgent, if not more so, with dozens of species
threatened with extinction, and we now also
face the growing twin threats of climate change
and plastic pollution. Our work has never been
more vital.
But we want to take this opportunity to
reflect on some of the incredible conservation
successes over the last three decades. Entire
islands have been cleared of invasive species,
with nature already healing and species reestablishing.
Vast areas of ocean are protected
for nature, with an expanded marine reserve
that remains a sanctuary for some of the most
astonishing concentrations of marine life on
the planet. And the local community, more
than ever before, is working with, not against,
the conservation sector, developing their own
initiatives to protect their home islands and live
in balance with nature.
All of us here at GCT are incredibly proud of
what we have achieved over the last 30 years
with your help. Here are just a few of the
highlights...
1995
Galapagos
Conservation Trust
was officially launched
on 5 April 1995 at
the Royal Society.
Some 250 people attended, including Sir David
Attenborough, David Bellamy (GCT’s first President),
the Ecuadorian Ambassador, four former directors
of the Charles Darwin Research Station, several MPs
and 10 descendants of Charles Darwin.
1996
Our first ever Galapagos Day was held on 16
September 1996 at the Natural History Museum in
London, celebrating the success of a campaign to
save Down House, Darwin’s former home.
Galapagos Day
Our showpiece event of the
year has taken place in a
number of different locations
over the years, including
London Zoo, the Royal
Geographical Society, Imperial
College and, during the COVID-19 pandemic,
online. Past speakers have included Sir David
Attenborough, David Bellamy, Ben Fogle, Andrew
Marr, Liz Bonnin, Stanley Johnson, Monty Halls
and Dame Diana Rigg. To find out about this year’s
event, check out page 23.
1997
Project Isabela, an ambitious effort to eradicate
invasive large mammals from Pinta, Santiago and
northern Isabela, began in 1997. Support from GCT
included funding for special boots to protect the
paws of the dogs used to hunt invasive goats on
the treacherous lava rock terrain.
1998
© Charles Darwin Foundation
The Special Law for Galapagos created the
Galapagos Marine Reserve and provided a new legal
framework for the Archipelago. We supported the
development and implementation of the Special
Law, which governs aspects of island life including
immigration control and fisheries management.
© Akemi Yokoyama / GCT
12
Galapagos Matters

2006
2005
We celebrated our tenth anniversary with a special
‘Dining with the Darwins’ event at the historic Livery
Hall of the Drapers’ Company in the City of London.
By the end of our first decade we had spent £1.7m
on support for conservation in Galapagos.
2003
The first ever GCT supporter cruise was organised
by Cazenove + Lloyd, hosted by GCT Director
Leonor Stjepic, Darwin descendant and GCT
Ambassador Randal Keynes, and guest of honour
Dame Diana Rigg.
2002
2001
Scalloped hammerheads © Simon Pierce
The first shark tagging expeditions took place
in Galapagos, tagging 18 hammerheads, three
Galapagos sharks and one whale shark, the first
steps in building up the evidence that would
eventually lead to the expansion of the Marine
Reserve nearly 20 years later.
We celebrated a big success for Project Isabela, as
Santiago island was declared pig-free. Meanwhile,
sharks were the theme at Galapagos Day, with a talk
from Peter Benchley, author of the book Jaws (and
scriptwriter for the film)!
HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, attended
Galapagos Day at the Royal Geographical Society
in 2001. Prince Philip visited the Galapagos Islands
three times, in 1964, 1971 and in 1988, and was a
generous supporter of GCT for many years.
In 2001 we also held our first ever Galapagos
photography competition, won by Polly Tatum for
her photo of a male frigatebird. The competition
is still going strong – see page 7 for details of this
year’s contest.
The GCT moth
When Canadian entomologist Bernard
Landry and his colleague Lazaro Roque
found a number of moth species in
Galapagos that they could not identify,
they needed to refer to the most
important collection in the world, at the
Natural History Museum in London, to find out whether
the species were new to science. GCT funded their visit
to London, and Bernard’s way of saying thank you was to
name one of the new moth species that they discovered
Caloptilia galacotra after GCT (‘gala’ from Galapagos,
‘co’ from ‘Conservation’, and ‘tr’ from ‘Trust’).
2007
Following the success of Project Isabela, in 2007
Project Pinzon was initiated to eradicate invasive rats
from Pinzon island, led by Island Conservation and the
Galapagos National Park Directorate. GCT provided
financial support for a ten-day international workshop
focusing on the problem of introduced rodents.
In 2007 GCT also launched a campaign to raise
awareness of the threats to sharks in the Galapagos
Marine Reserve, and teamed up with other UK-based
organisations to call for a ban on the import of shark
fins to Britain (something that was finally achieved in
2023 with the introduction of the Shark Fins Act).
2008
GCT began funding the Charles Darwin Foundation’s
Philornis downsi research project. This invasive parasitic
fly is the single biggest threat to Galapagos land birds.
2009
GCT participated in a number
of events to celebrate the 200 th
anniversary of Charles Darwin’s
birth. Our ‘Donate a Darwin’
campaign encouraged people to
donate a £10 note (which featured a
portrait of Charles Darwin at the time) to save
the Floreana mockingbird. GCT Ambassador
Sarah Darwin was presented with a giant tenner by
Andrew Bailey, Chief Cashier (and now Governor) of the
Bank of England.
At Christ’s College, Cambridge, we held a dinner for
70 guests to celebrate the anniversary, with speakers
including Sir David Attenborough, GCT President Andrew
Marr and Floreana-born conservationist Felipe Cruz.
Initial work on the project to restore Floreana island
began in 2009, and GCT also helped to launch the
Galapagos Tortoise Movement Ecology Project.
Floreana mockingbird © Luis Ortiz Catedral
Spring | Summer 2025
13

14
2010
Together with the Charles Darwin Foundation and
the Galapagos National Park Directorate, GCT
began supporting the long-term monitoring of
Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants.
We also collaborated with WWF to facilitate
recycling initiatives on two of Galapagos’ inhabited
islands, including a waste oil recycling programme
to prevent the contamination of waterways.
2011
Controlling the spread of invasive species is a high
priority in Galapagos, and we funded a project
pioneered by our Ambassador Godfrey Merlen to
install UV insect zappers on boats to prevent the
spread of insects between islands.
2012
As part of the continued fight against the invasive fly
Philornis downsi, we supported the refurbishment of
the insect laboratory at the Charles Darwin Research
Station and helped to fund an international workshop
on control methods for Philornis, which resulted in
the development of a five-year management plan.
2013
The initial phase of Project
Pinzon was declared a
success, with the island
cleared of invasive rats.
This laid the foundation
for the recovery of the
island’s giant tortoise
population, and its natural
recolonisation by the Galapagos
rail and cactus finch.
2014
We launched our Discovering Galapagos
educational programme in both the UK and
Galapagos, helping to catalyse interest and
stewardship among the next generation of
conservation ambassadors.
In 2014 we also began supporting two projects
which are still a key focus more than a decade
later – the Galapagos Whale Shark Project, which is
piecing together the story of how these enigmatic
ocean giants behave (see page 18), and the
Mangrove Finch Project, which is working to save
one of the world’s rarest birds from extinction.
Galapagos Matters
Galapagos rail © Ian Henderson
2019
Beginning in January 2019, the Galapagos National Park
Directorate and Island Conservation began releasing land
iguanas onto Santiago, an island where they had gone
extinct in the early 20 th century due to the introduction
of feral cats and goats. GCT supported the project for
several years through funding for Dr Luis Ortiz-Catedral’s
work to assess the population size and health status of
land iguanas across Fernandina, Isabela and Santa Cruz
islands, providing vital information for the Santiago
reintroduction.
Also in 2019, GCT began supporting work to save the
little vermilion flycatcher from extinction. We are helping
to fund work led by the Charles Darwin Foundation and
the Galapagos National Park Directorate to restore native
Scalesia forest, a key habitat for flycatchers in Galapagos,
and reduce the threat from invasive rats and the parasitic
fly Philornis.
Marti the Hammerhead
Shark, the first in our
series of educational
storybooks, was
published in 2019
following a successful
crowdfunding campaign.
Written by GCT’s Sarah
Langford and beautifully illustrated by Lisa Brown, the
book follows Marti, a young scalloped hammerhead
shark, on her journey from the Galapagos Islands to
Cocos Island, Costa Rica.
2018
GCT started supporting research into the Cocos-
Galapagos Swimway, a key migratory route for marine
species including sharks, sea turtles and whales.
We also continued to develop our work on plastic
pollution by holding a four-day ‘Science to Solutions’
workshop in Galapagos.
2017
We launched our flagship Plastic Pollution Free
Galapagos programme, looking at the sources and
impacts of the growing influx of plastic waste in
Galapagos, as well as mapping out the solutions.
2015
We supported the launch of
the Galapagos Bullhead Shark
Project, an almost ‘forgotten’
species about which very little
was known, and we funded the
first ever Shark Day community
engagement event on
San Cristobal.
Shark Day in Galapagos
© Max Hirschfeld

2020
In 2020, much of the conservation work underway
in Galapagos ground to a halt due to the COVID-19
pandemic. GCT’s Board agreed on an exceptional
donation to provide essential PPE and food parcels
to Galapaguenians, whilst the GCT team speedily
adapted our educational materials for home learning
and provided support to families to grow their own
food through the Urban Family Gardening project.
We also supported the launch of Barcode Galapagos,
the largest ever citizen science project on the Islands,
which aims to create a genetic library of Galapagos
species, and which involved training locals, including
out-of-work tourist guides, to be lab and field
technicians.
2021
At the COP26
climate conference
in Glasgow, we
brought local
Galapaguenian voices to the world stage with powerful
videos expressing their greatest concerns about
climate change and their messages for world leaders.
Together with the University of Exeter, we launched the
Pacific Plastics: Science to Solutions network, which
brings together researchers, NGOs, governments and
businesses across the Eastern Tropical Pacific to tackle
the growing threat from plastic pollution.
We also started supporting the Co-Galapagos project
in 2021, which is giving local communities the tools
to take forward their own ideas for conservation and
sustainable development, working towards achieving
the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Galapagos.
2022
The new Hermandad Marine Reserve was formally
established, adding 60,000 km² to the 138,000
km² of the original Galapagos Marine Reserve, and
increasing the total area of Ecuador’s ocean that is
protected from 13% to almost 19%. This huge win for
ocean conservation was based on findings from years
of research supported by GCT and partners such as
the MigraMar network.
In July, Sir David Attenborough was awarded the
‘National Order of Merit’, the highest decoration
granted by Ecuador, at the Ecuadorian Embassy in
London, at an event organised with support from GCT.
Tessa the Giant Tortoise, the second in our series of
storybooks, was published after another successful
crowdfunder, aiming to inspire children in Galapagos
to connect with nature and the unique animals that
they share their home with.
2025
As we celebrate our 30 th anniversary year, we are
also looking forward, mapping out our strategy
to 2030 and beyond. Key areas of focus for GCT
this year include work to address the threat posed
by drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the
Galapagos Marine Reserve; the continuing Global
Plastics Treaty negotiations; the next steps in the
Floreana programme; supporting moves towards a
more regenerative model for tourism in Galapagos;
and strengthening local capacity on the Islands,
helping to train the Galapagos-born conservationists
of the future.
Thank you for your incredible support in getting us to
this point. We could not have done it without you.
2024
In 2024 we published our landmark plastic pollution
report, in collaboration with the Galapagos National
Park Directorate, presenting five years of research
into the sources and impacts of plastic pollution
in Galapagos. We presented our findings on the
global stage, including at the Rapa Nui Pacific
Leaders’ Summit and at the UN Global Plastics Treaty
negotiations in Ottawa.
In November we revealed our newest GCT
Ambassador, Sir Stephen Fry, who presented the
BBC Radio 4 Appeal on our behalf, raising awareness
and funds for the protection of Galapagos giant
tortoises threatened by plastic pollution.
2023
We completed our trilogy of storybooks with
Alberto the Waved Albatross, which follows the story
of Alberto and his partner Isabela as they overcome
obstacles including industrial fishing fleets and
plastic pollution.
After more than a decade of preparation, the
eradication of invasive predatory mammals on
Floreana began, led by Island Conservation,
Fundación Jocotoco and the Galapagos National
Park Directorate. Support from GCT included
funding for our partners Durrell Wildlife Conservation
Trust to protect finches and owls by holding them in
aviaries while the eradication took place.
Spring | Summer 2025
15

Evolution in real time
An interview with Peter and Rosemary Grant
Peter and Rosemary Grant’s long-running study of Darwin’s finches
has uncovered new insights about the processes of hybridisation
and speciation, revealing evolution to be a more dynamic and
unpredictable process than Charles Darwin could ever have imagined.
How has your study changed our
understanding of evolution?
Charles Darwin believed you could
not observe or study evolution
because it happens far too slowly.
Our study on Daphne Major has
shown the opposite. Evolution by
natural selection of long-lived birds
can be witnessed, measured and
interpreted in a matter of years. For
example, Darwin’s mechanism of
natural selection causes divergence
in size when two species compete for
a food resource. During a prolonged
drought of two-and-a-half years, we
witnessed the average beak and
body size of the population of the
medium ground finch (Geospiza
fortis) becoming smaller after its
larger members were outcompeted
for food by another larger finch
species, Geospiza magnirostris.
What can the finches on Daphne
tell us about evolution in
Galapagos as a whole?
They alert us to the possibility
that evolutionary change is
taking place in other plants and
animals in Galapagos, unstudied
and therefore unrecorded. The
Galapagos Archipelago is young,
the oldest island less than 5 million
years old, and it is dynamic. Not
only is it volcanically active and
subjected to the El Niño Southern
Oscillation, with years of excessive
rainfall interspersed by droughts,
but over the last million years it has
experienced ten glacial cycles that
substantially altered the sea level,
resulting in islands fusing together
and splitting apart as water was either
locked up at the poles or released
during the interglacials. Thus,
populations of plants and animals
were alternately brought in contact
with each other or split apart.
How can your findings be
used to inform conservation
strategies for Darwin’s finches?
They show what happens to bird
populations in the natural state on
uninhabited islands. Their numbers
oscillate between highs and lows in
population sizes from abundance
to scarcity. They also show that
species hybridise in nature, leading to
a reshuffling of genetic factors that can
fuel changes through natural selection
when the environment changes.
How have the Galapagos Islands
changed in the 40 years that
you’ve been visiting?
The most conspicuous change has
been in the number of people,
both visitors and residents. Less
conspicuous are the changes brought
about by introduced species. For
example, the avian vampire fly
(Philornis downsi) has now established
itself and is responsible for higher
mortality in finches and flycatchers.
Similarly, introduced yellow paper
wasps (Polistes versicolor) feed on
caterpillars and deplete the supply of
this important food for the finches.
Positive changes are the increasingly
comprehensive efforts to solve the
outstanding conservation problems.
What do you think Charles
Darwin would make of your
findings if he were here today?
We are sure he would be delighted
to discover that evolution by natural
selection has been measured in one of
the species of finches that today bear
his name. He would feel vindicated,
and would probably add that he
wished he had the genetic knowledge
available to us today, and had been
able to spend more than five weeks
on Galapagos!
Peter and
Rosemary Grant
are evolutionary biologists
and Emeritus Professors at
Princeton University. They
have been studying Darwin’s
finches on the Galapagos
islands since 1973, carrying
out intensive fieldwork on
Genovesa for ten years and
on the small island of Daphne
Major for 40 years.
A new edition
of Peter and
Rosemary
Grant’s
landmark
study, 40
Years of
Evolution:
Darwin’s
Finches
on Daphne Major Island, is
available now from Princeton
University Press: bit.ly/40-
years-evolution
Medium ground finch © Matthew Wixon
16
Galapagos Matters

Global Relevance
A tale of two giants
Rich Baxter
is Director of the Indian Ocean
Tortoise Alliance and an island
ecologist with over a decade
of experience in the Western
Indian Ocean. In this time,
he has developed a deep
appreciation and fascination
for the region’s biodiversity,
leading him to become a
country member of the IUCN
SSC Tortoise and Freshwater
Turtle Specialist Group.
Aldabra giant tortoise © Rich Baxter
By Rich Baxter
Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World
Heritage site in the Indian Ocean, is
home to the Aldabra banded snail,
the Aldabra fody, the Aldabra rail and
the remarkable Aldabra giant tortoise.
These tortoises form the largest giant
tortoise population in the world, with
four times as many individuals as there
are in all of Galapagos.
Despite their geographical separation,
both the Aldabra giant tortoises of the
Seychelles and the various species of
Galapagos tortoise followed similar
evolutionary trajectories, evolving
to be large herbivores on isolated
islands. This convergent evolution
shows how similar pressures can
lead to comparable adaptations
in distinct species. However, while
the Galapagos tortoises diversified
into several species across the
Archipelago, the Aldabra tortoises
remained a single population, thriving
in the relatively uniform conditions
of the Aldabra Atoll. Their rounder
faces and ability to suck water up from
shallow pools of water through their
nostrils are key to their survival.
Human exploitation has led to the
extinction of giant tortoises from
all the world’s large landmasses,
and they only survived on islands.
Early explorers, sailors and whalers
saw tortoises as an abundant and
convenient food source, and tens
of thousands were taken from their
islands, loaded onto ships and
slaughtered en route to new lands
and museums. By the late 19th
century, giant tortoises on islands
across the globe had gone extinct,
including several species of Galapagos
tortoise, while Aldabra tortoises
narrowly avoided a similar fate. The
Mascarene islands of Mauritius,
Réunion and Rodrigues all lost their
endemic giants, as did Madagascar,
the ancestral home of the Aldabra
giant tortoise.
Today, threats to the last giants have
shifted but are still significant. In the
Seychelles, habitat degradation,
poaching and introduced predators
pressure their survival, while rising
sea levels and longer droughts
threaten low-lying islands like Aldabra.
In Galapagos, encroachment and
introduced species, such as rats
and goats, continue to threaten
giant tortoises.
Conservationists are using tortoises
and their ecosystem-engineering
status to rejuvenate and restore
ecosystem functions to degraded
islands. While the Aldabra population
remains stable, the tortoises have
been introduced to higher-elevation
islands in the Seychelles, where they
will be more secure from rising sea
levels. Some of these islands now
hold large, self-sustaining tortoise
populations and could even serve as a
genetic back-up stock for the Aldabra
population. Further south in the Indian
Ocean, Aldabra tortoises are being
used as ecological replacements for
extinct species on islands like Round
Island and Rodrigues in Mauritius,
where they play a critical role in
herbivory, seed dispersal, nutrient
cycling and habitat formation.
Reintroducing giant tortoises to areas
they once inhabited helps rebuild
ecological functionality, which in turn
supports many other species.
In Galapagos, conservationists are
reintroducing Floreana tortoises – a
species thought extinct – by using
individuals from Isabela island with
Floreana genes. This genetic rescue
aims to restore a missing ecosystem
engineer species and preserve genetic
diversity. Galapagos has long been
a focal point of global conservation,
thanks to Darwin, while conservation
efforts in the Seychelles have received
less global limelight. Organisations
like the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance
are working to promote the Aldabra
tortoise as a flagship species for Indian
Ocean conservation, and there are
increasing numbers of tortoises in
protected areas in Seychelles, along
with successful rewilding projects
in Madagascar and Mauritius. The
survival of both emblematic giants
appears to be heading in a slow and
steady positive direction. How very
tortoise-like.
To find out more about
Aldabra giant tortoises,
visit iotaseychelles.org
Spring | Summer 2025
17

Beyond
Darwin’s Arch:
A decade of tracking
whale sharks
By Dr Alex Hearn
Whale sharks are among the most fascinating
creatures on the planet, the largest fish in
the sea. But sharks are incredibly vulnerable
to human pressures. Their slow growth, long
lives and low reproductive output mean
that populations struggle to rebound after
a catastrophic event, and right now, that
catastrophic event is us. It is thought that
humans kill between 70-100 million sharks each
year. Fortunately, whale shark fishing is banned
in most countries, although some allow them
to be landed if caught accidentally – a few
years ago, undercover journalists found that a
single factory in China was processing around
600 whale sharks each year.
While the whale shark is mostly
a solitary, open ocean animal, it
does form predictable seasonal
aggregations at around two dozen
sites across the globe, timed to
coincide with reef spawning events,
which provide rich foraging for this
plankton feeder. These aggregations
are mostly made up of immature
males. Galapagos is different. Here,
scuba divers come from all over the
world to dive with mostly large adult
females at the remote island of Darwin
between July and October each year.
We formed the Galapagos Whale
Shark Project to try to understand
what these sharks were doing there.
Almost immediately we discovered
that what we thought we knew was
all wrong.
Mysterious migrations
We found that rather than an
aggregation site, Darwin was more
of a stopover point. While it was
correct that there were only a handful
of sharks there on any given day,
each day there were different sharks.
They were moving through. And they
didn’t seem to be feeding. We placed
satellite tags on them to track their
movements and found that early in
the season, they would head out into
the Pacific, along the Equatorial Front
– an area where two surface currents
slide past each other, creating vortices
called “tropical instability waves”
that propagate westwards along the
Front. After 1,000 - 1,500 kilometres,
they would turn back, and return near
Darwin again, then continue east, all
the way to the shelf-break of mainland
Ecuador and northern Peru.
Over all these years, we’ve only seen
a handful of males. The females’
size and distended abdomens led
us to speculate that they might be
pregnant. Almost nothing is known
about whale shark reproduction. Pups
are around 60 centimetres long, and
are almost never seen. Might we
have stumbled upon the holy grail
of whale shark research? The almost
mythical ‘pupping grounds’? Or
maybe their migration has nothing to
do with their reproduction and more
to do with feeding – after all, those
tropical instability waves are natural
plankton traps.
I decided to focus my research efforts
on the theory that the female whale
18
Galapagos Matters

Dr Alex Hearn
is a professor of marine
biology at the Universidad
San Francisco de Quito,
co-founder of the Galapagos
Whale Shark Project and a
founding member of the
MigraMar network.
Whale shark swims past Darwin’s Arch platform © Jonathan Green
sharks we see in Galapagos migrate
seasonally between feeding grounds.
I looked back through old reports and
found that the first ever whale shark in
Galapagos was actually observed in
the southern part of the Archipelago,
earlier in the year. I also engaged with
dive guides and recreational divers,
the Inter-American Tropical Tuna
Commission, and Galapagos National
Park Rangers, all of whom confirmed
sightings in the south.
However, it’s not easy to get funding
to search for a species over such a
large area. Working at Darwin island
was a walk in the park (so long as
you were careful with the ripping
currents!). You could pretty much
guarantee one to four whale shark
encounters every time you jumped
into the water. In the south, it was
going to be hit and miss. And it was
mostly miss. We spent a frustrating
season turning up to dive sites with a
tag in hand the day after a whale shark
had been seen.
I decided to switch to the air. There
was no way I could afford an aircraft,
but my colleagues had a fixed-wing
drone they were willing to send out
over a large area between Isabela
and Floreana. Although we came
back empty-handed, our expeditions
shed light on the amazing diversity
and abundance of other marine
megafauna in the reserve at that
time of year. Our drone pilot, Julio
Vizuete, was so enamored that he
offered to bring his ultra-light aircraft
the following year. Perhaps if we could
combine aerial and boat surveys,
we would have better luck…?
Pirates and plane crashes
Unfortunately, we ran into logistical
problems immediately. It turns
out Guayaquil airport doesn’t like
to handle ultralights, so they sent
Julio to Manta… where there was
no quarantine facility for flights to
Galapagos… so they promptly sent
him back to Guayaquil. This went on
for several days, while the tension on
the boat grew, as we sat and waited
and hoped for him to appear on
the horizon.
Finally, Julio made it. The next four
days were amazing. Not only did we
find whale sharks, we also had close
encounters with a Bryde’s whale and
Spring | Summer 2025
19

its calf, bottlenose dolphins, and the
aerial observers even reported blue
whales. The best moment, however,
was when the ultralight flew over
us, dipping its wings. This was the
agreed signal for a whale shark.
We all jumped up and scanned the
water. It only took us a few minutes
before we saw a large shadow under
the surface. We slipped into the
water and there beneath us was
an adult whale shark, just sitting at
around 8 metres depth. After years of
trying, we had shown that with aerial
support, we were able to locate and
communicate the position of a shark,
intercept it and successfully tag it.
We secured funding from National
Geographic to visit the south of
Galapagos again in 2023, and to carry
out aerial surveys along the Ecuadorian
coast. However, this was not as simple
as we hoped. Mainland Ecuador
was becoming more dangerous with
each passing day, with local gangs,
now linked to drug cartels, extorting
artisanal fishers and coastal businesses.
Fishers were also vulnerable to piracy –
they would be held up at gunpoint and
relieved of their boat engines, leaving
them adrift at sea, without their only
source of livelihood.
We spent our first week in Esmeraldas.
At the end of the week, we had seen
plenty of dolphins, some whales… but
no whale sharks. Our second week was
centered around Isla de la Plata, home
to blue-footed and Nazca boobies,
and even a few breeding pairs of
waved albatross (the only individuals
not to nest in Galapagos). As with the
previous week, the sea was calm, the
ultralight spotted plenty of dolphins,
some whales and mantas… but no
whale sharks. We were unable to find
any boat willing to take us out to the
southern portion of Ecuador. This area,
bordering Peru, was just too risky.
Without having encountered a single
whale shark during our mainland
Recovering the ultralight from the sea © Julio Vizuete
surveys, we flew back out to
Galapagos. There, we encountered
eight whale sharks over a period of
five days, and were able to tag six.
After placing all the tags on the sharks,
we had set aside some days to carry
out aerial surveys of the entire marine
reserve. On the afternoon of the
second day, Julio did not check in and
we became concerned. We decided to
activate the emergency protocols and
begin a search.
The navy sent out a patrol vessel, and
we had a call from the captain of an
industrial fishing vessel outside the
marine reserve, who offered the use
of their helicopter. An oceanographic
research vessel stopped its work and
moved up to the search area. The
Galapagos Science Center contacted
artisanal fishers on Isabela to join the
search. Looking back, it really was an
example of how ocean users, so often
at odds with each other, put aside their
differences for something that unites
us all: the search for comrades missing
at sea.
The following morning, we finally got
the news we were waiting for: Julio and
his spotter, Alberto Andrade, had been
found unharmed, not far from their
last known position. The navy rescue
vessel had found the plane floating at
the surface, with a life vessel attached.
I cannot describe the relief all of us
felt – Julio and Alberto’s families, our
research team, friends and the rescue
team… I don’t think there was a dry
eye among us.
Common name:
Whale shark
Scientific name:
Rhincodon typus
Spanish name:
Tiburón ballena
The Peruvian connection
Our ultralight would never fly again,
so our next challenge was to locate
the sharks without aerial support.
The solution would come via a
serendipitous virtual workshop where
I coincided with Alejandra Mendoza,
a Peruvian marine biologist who had
spent the past few years developing
a whale shark monitoring programme
with the NGO Ecoceánica, in
northern Peru. She works closely
with artisanal fishers at Cancas, near
the port of Máncora, and they carry
out abundance surveys and photoidentification
work. Her team were
keen to understand the movement
patterns of their sharks and open
to collaboration, so we made our
way to Peru.
Each day, we spent six to eight hours
in our boat, staring out across the
water, looking for a subsurface shadow
or a fin breaking the surface. I never
would have thought it, but it worked.
We had 11 whale shark encounters
over five days, and we were able to
tag six of them.
So what are our next steps? In 2025
we are looking forward to continuing
our partnership with GCT, and to
working with new partners. With
support from Metropolitan Touring
and Finch Bay Hotels, we hope
to continue working in southern
Galapagos, and to investigate a
potential aggregation site in the
western islands. We may try to
explore the Colombian coast… and
we really hope that the situation in
mainland Ecuador will improve so
that subsistence and artisanal fishers
can feed their families without fear of
having their engines stolen and being
left to drift at sea by pirates.
Read the extended version of
Alex’s whale shark diaries at
galapagosconservation.org.uk/
beyond-darwins-arch
Conservation status:
Endangered
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Average size:
10 - 12 metres
Maximum size:
18 metres
Average weight:
15 tonnes
20
Galapagos Matters

© Jonathan Green
Ocean guardians:
The role of whale sharks in carbon capture
By Sofía Green
From a young age, we learn that
trees take in carbon dioxide to
produce energy and grow through
a process called photosynthesis.
Plants also release oxygen back into
the atmosphere which humans need
to breathe. This makes forests one
of the planet’s great carbon sinks,
balancing out naturally produced
carbon dioxide and now also having
to sequester the excess produced
by humans.
Yet forests are not the only
ecosystems involved in absorbing
carbon dioxide. The ocean hosts
an impressive array of ecosystems,
all playing a role in carbon
sequestration. Just as large forests
on land absorb carbon, so do coastal
wetlands, such as mangrove forests,
marshes and seagrass meadows, as
well as kelp forests and microscopic
algae known as phytoplankton, each
in distinct ways.
But that is not all. While the science
is still new and ongoing, we are
uncovering evidence that large
marine organisms also play a
vital role in carbon sequestration.
Innovative research is demonstrating
how whales, krill and fish support the
movement of carbon from the ocean
surface to deep sea, where it can
be stored long term. This system is
known as the biological pump.
Whale sharks migrate long distances
in the ocean, both horizontally—
travelling approximately 40–100km
daily—and vertically, with the deepest
recorded dive being 1,928 m.
Whale sharks are voracious feeders,
ingesting large amounts of prey
biomass daily. They contribute to
nutrient transportation by travelling
from coastal feeding areas to open
ocean regions, where they defecate
and enrich otherwise nutrientdeficient
waters. Additionally, by
physically mixing water during their
dives, they help move nitrogen—a
key nutrient—from the ocean depths
back to the surface, stimulating
phytoplankton growth. This is
critical because phytoplankton
sequesters between 30 to 50 billion
metric tonnes of carbon annually,
representing about 40% of all plantbased
carbon sequestration.
Whale sharks also contribute to
carbon sequestration due to their
sheer size. Every living being is made
up of carbon, and the larger and
longer-lived the organism, the more
carbon it stores as biomass. When
whale sharks die, they sink to the
ocean floor, taking their carbon with
them, where it can remain buried for
centuries, far from the atmosphere
and gradually transferred to deepsea
organisms. However, when large
marine organisms are fished and
eaten, rather than left to sink to the
bottom of the ocean, the carbon
stored in their bodies is released into
the atmosphere instead, contributing
to additional CO 2
emissions.
The exact amount of carbon
sequestered by whale sharks is
difficult to quantify. More studies
are needed to understand their
migratory routes, habitat use, diving
behaviour and longevity to calculate
more precise numbers. Nonetheless,
the fact that whale sharks and other
marine megafauna play a role in
the blue carbon system is now
clear and undeniable. Although
marine vertebrates store only a
fraction of the total carbon in marine
ecosystems, recovering populations
of fish, whales and other large
marine animals such as whale sharks
could have an impact on carbon
sequestration comparable to current
carbon capture projects. The more of
these animals we have in the ocean,
the stronger our ocean carbon sink
becomes.
To read an extended version of this
article with references, visit bit.ly/
whale-shark-carbon-capture
Sofía Green
is an Ecuadorian marine
biologist who has worked for
the Galapagos Whale Shark
Project for several years.
Based in Galapagos, she is
involved in leading volunteer
environmental education
programmes and runs coastal
clean-ups.
Spring | Summer 2025
21

Supporter News
The conservation of the Galapagos Islands brings together people
from all walks of life. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student just
starting out or an A-list celebrity at the pinnacle of your career – these
Islands have a unique ability to amaze and inspire, and we can all play
a part in preserving them for future generations.
Galapagos Day 2024 © Akemi Yokoyama / GCT
The GCT team in the studio with
Sir Stephen Fry © GCT
Introducing our newest
GCT Ambassador...
Sir Stephen Fry is, of course, a
man that needs no introduction.
Actor, screenwriter, author,
playwright, journalist, poet,
comedian, television presenter,
film director and all-round
national treasure, Sir Stephen
is a passionate advocate for
conservation and the natural
world, and we were thrilled that
he agreed to present a BBC
Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of GCT
in November. Our appeal, raising
money to protect giant tortoises
from plastic pollution, has so far
raised over £21,000. If you missed
the broadcast, you can listen on
BBC Sounds by visiting
bit.ly/r4-gct
Join our Big Give campaign to
save the Galapagos sea lion!
Sea lions are among the most
charismatic creatures in Galapagos,
charming visitors with their playful
nature. Sadly, they’re also at high risk
of death and injury from fishing nets
and other plastic waste. We need
your help to protect these innocent
animals and create a future free from
pollution.
From 22 to 29 April we’re taking
part in the Big Give Green Match
Fund campaign. Every donation
you make during this week will be
doubled, and we are hoping to
raise at least £20,000. The money
we raise will fund work to clean up
sea lion habitat, keep harmful fish
aggregating devices (FADs) out of
Galapagos, stem the flow of singleuse
plastics and foster a love of the
ocean among young Galapagueños.
To find out more, sign up for our
newsletter at galapagosconservation.
org.uk/news
Galapagos Day 2024
Thank you to everyone who
joined us in October at our new
central London venue, 1 Wimpole
Street, for Galapagos Day 2024.
Our theme was ‘Turning the
Tide on Plastic Pollution’, and
we heard from the scientists
using cutting-edge technology
to map the scale of the problem,
policymakers working to secure
a Global Plastics Treaty, and
the community leaders driving
change on the ground. A huge
thanks to our speakers and
panellists Dr Ceri Lewis, Dr Amy
MacLeod, His Excellency Mr Luis
Vayas Valdivieso, Lucía Norris,
GCT President Monty Halls and
our wonderful host, Dr Sally
Uren OBE.
GCT Supporter Cruises
Our GCT cruises are a unique
opportunity to experience a side of
Galapagos that other tourists don’t
see, with exclusive project visits,
talks from local conservationists
and a member of the GCT team
accompanying you on your
expedition. We charter vessels for
small groups and places fill up fast.
For more information on our 2025
cruises, or to register your interest
for future trips, please contact
kelly@gct.org
22
Galapagos Matters

Scalloped hammerheads © Jonathan Green
Events
Galapagos Day
Thursday 9 October 2025,
6pm – 10pm,
1 Wimpole Street,
London W1G 0AE
Last year we were overwhelmed with
positive feedback about our new
Galapagos Day venue, 1 Wimpole
Street, and we’re delighted to be
returning in October for a special
30 th anniversary edition of our
flagship event. Just five minutes’
walk from Bond Street and Oxford
Circus stations, the impressive space
Galapagos Merchandise
includes a 298-seater auditorium,
glass-ceilinged atrium and accessible
facilities.
This year we are taking a deep
dive into the ocean realm, as we
bust some myths and celebrate the
incredible ecosystem benefits of
some of nature’s most misunderstood
creatures: sharks. You can expect
thought-provoking talks, lively panel
discussions, interactive exhibits and a
friendly crowd of wildlife enthusiasts.
Tickets are on sale now at a
special early bird price of £20 until
31 May (£30 thereafter). We are also
offering a new lower ticket price of
£10 for students. The ticket includes
your first drink at the bar. Capacity
at the venue is limited, so we
recommend booking early to avoid
disappointment. Get your tickets now
via the back form of this magazine or
online at galapagosconservation.
org.uk/galapagos-day-2025
This year’s event is kindly sponsored
by Mundy Adventures.
New! Adopt an American flamingo
Adopting a flamingo is a great way to support
our work protecting the myriad bird species
of Galapagos, and makes a thoughtful gift for
adults and children alike! Our adoption packs
include an adorable soft toy, certificate, factfile
and regular updates on our conservation work.
Order online at bit.ly/GCT-adoptions or via the
payment form for £42.
Galapagos clothing
GCT counts on the support of
many wonderful volunteers,
and last year we were
lucky enough to have Land
Economy student Patrick
Brownlow spend some time
with us quantifying GCT’s
carbon footprint, as part
of our efforts to operate
in an environmentally
sustainable way. Patrick,
who also volunteered for
us at Galapagos Day, made
a great impression on the
team, so we were delighted to receive this photo from him just
after Christmas. Every year, Patrick’s parents organise charity gifts
for the family, and this year they bought everyone a GCT T-shirt
from our Teemill store! If you want to look as stylish as Patrick and
his family, check out our growing range of sustainable fashion at
galapagosconservationtruststore.com
Spring | Summer 2025
23

© Kelvin Boot
GCT Supporter Cruises
Conservation-focused cruises with exclusive project visits
If you are considering a trip to Galapagos, this is the way to do it. Our GCT cruises, in collaboration with
Steppes Travel, offer you a unique experience you won’t find anywhere else. Travelling on board the luxurious
yacht Natural Paradise, with a maximum of 15 paying guests, you will experience the very best Galapagos has
to offer during an action-packed ten days. You will be accompanied by a GCT expert and a hand-picked local
guide, with exclusive behind-the-scenes project visits that aren’t available to other tourists. What’s more, you
will travel in the knowledge that your trip is helping to fund vital conservation work.
For more information, visit galapagosconservation.org.uk/gct-cruise
or contact Kelly Hague: kelly@gct.org / 020 7399 7440
16 – 25 November 2025 (one cabin remaining)
30 November – 9 December 2025
10 days / 9 nights from £7,495 per person
In association with