This year marks an anniversary of sorts for the Galapagos achipagio, one that has been happening every seven years since the end of the Ice Age, El Niño. It’s a Darwinian celebration, a natural event that is laden with surprises for some of the islands inhabitants and setbacks for others.
The tradition starts with the characteristic cool Humboldt Current being offset by warmer water, effectively cutting off the algae and food supply for the marine iguana, the blue-footed Bobby, sea lions and the Galapagos penguin. The natural event also shifts the western blowing trade winds above water, and displaces the natural cycle of the warmer waters being swept away from the Equator and replaced with the cooler water beneath them, usually brimming …show more content…
El Niño brings more rainfall with its warmer waters, the land becomes lush and the animals that live there flourish. For a breakdown of what to expect when travelling to the Galapagos Islands during this phenomena, take a look at the trends recorded during the past events, most recently the strong El Nino of 1997-97.
In the past- marine iguanas, Galapagos penguins, frigate birds, sea turtles and sea lion populations have declined, as each has to travel farther away, past the warm waters for food or cannot adapt to the change in water temperature. This effect is noticeable and in some cases, declines as much as 70 percent. Each creature is still present in the islands, displaying a resilience that sustains them until El Niño passes. The longer the event lasts, the bigger the decline in the populations, which lengthens the time it takes for them to recover.
Land iguanas during the 1982-83 El Niño thrived because their food source, cactus pads flourished. The iguanas can’t climb and normally would have to compete with other creatures for the fallen pads, but the rapid growth of the cactus produced enough food for the reptiles to grow
The tradition starts with the characteristic cool Humboldt Current being offset by warmer water, effectively cutting off the algae and food supply for the marine iguana, the blue-footed Bobby, sea lions and the Galapagos penguin. The natural event also shifts the western blowing trade winds above water, and displaces the natural cycle of the warmer waters being swept away from the Equator and replaced with the cooler water beneath them, usually brimming …show more content…
El Niño brings more rainfall with its warmer waters, the land becomes lush and the animals that live there flourish. For a breakdown of what to expect when travelling to the Galapagos Islands during this phenomena, take a look at the trends recorded during the past events, most recently the strong El Nino of 1997-97.
In the past- marine iguanas, Galapagos penguins, frigate birds, sea turtles and sea lion populations have declined, as each has to travel farther away, past the warm waters for food or cannot adapt to the change in water temperature. This effect is noticeable and in some cases, declines as much as 70 percent. Each creature is still present in the islands, displaying a resilience that sustains them until El Niño passes. The longer the event lasts, the bigger the decline in the populations, which lengthens the time it takes for them to recover.
Land iguanas during the 1982-83 El Niño thrived because their food source, cactus pads flourished. The iguanas can’t climb and normally would have to compete with other creatures for the fallen pads, but the rapid growth of the cactus produced enough food for the reptiles to grow