Human History
The Galápagos Islands were discovered accidentally in 1535, when Fray
Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama, was carried away from the west coast of
South America—and his diocesan duties—by a strong westward current.
Regardless of how the bishop portrayed the islands he encountered to the
King of Spain—either as a desolate land with precious few exploitable
resources or as a haven of biological marvels—the Spaniards never decided to
colonize the distant islands.
Instead, during the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the archipelago became a
favorite resting spot for British pirates making their way—raiding and
pillaging—through Spanish colonies on the South American continent. These
adventurers made the first primitive maps of the archipelago, giving the
islands their English names. Although they also took advantage of the fresh
tortoise meat available on the islands, they were never abundant enough to
cause irreparable harm to wildlife populations.
The next major group to exploit the Galápagos—18 th century North
American and European whalers—were less benign in terms of their effects on
the resource base. Hundreds of ships passed through Galápagos waters,
restocking their fleets with island provisions, most often the abundant and
portable—given their ability to survive long periods without food or
water—Galápagos tortoises. Whaling dropped off considerably in the late 19
th century when overexploitation of sperm whales—not to mention the
extermination of two island tortoise subspecies and the near-extinction of
fur seals—made cruising to the Galápagos unprofitable.
In 1832, the newly independent Republic of Ecuador seized its opportunity
to claim the uninhabited and potentially valuable offshore islands, and
colonization soon followed. The first settlers, led by Frenchman Jose
Villamil, arrived on Floreana as farmers, intent on overcoming harsh
climatic conditions to make a living in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Others arrived to Isabela, San Cristóbal , and Santa Cruz over the next
century to develop agriculture, salt, coral, and sulfur mining, and penal
colonies. The results for early settlers were lifestyles rife with
adversity, ranging from subsistence at best to extreme poverty at worst. In
the early 1920's and 1930's, several groups of European immigrants settled
in the Galápagos, the most notorious of which were the fiery-tempered
Baroness Wagner de Bosquet from Austria and her all-male entourage, all of
whom died under suspicious circumstances.
Of all of the temporary and permanent visitors to the Galápagos, the
young naturalist Charles Darwin has undisputedly caused the greatest impact.
Ever since the 1835 expedition aboard the HMS Beagle that prompted the
eventual formulation of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection,
scientists have flocked to the Galápagos to conduct surveys, museum
collections, and research investigations. These scientific expeditions have
been paramount in identifying the negative effects of introduced species and
spearheading the global effort for island preservation.
During the mid-20 th century, the centenaries of Darwin's Galápagos tour
and the publication of The Origin of Species —and the impending threats to
island biological treasures—inspired government officials to team with
international representatives to prioritize and develop effective
conservation initiatives in the islands. In 1959, the Galápagos National
Park , incorporating approximately 97% of the archipelago's total land area,
was established, and the regulatory implementing body—the Galápagos National
Park Service—was created nine years later. Legal protection was extended to
the water in 1986—and strengthened with the 1998 Special Law of the
Galápagos—declaring the islands' adjacent seascape as the Galápagos Marine
Resource Reserve.
Santa Cruz , Isabela, San Cristóbal , and Floreana are still the only
populated islands, housing around 20,000 total residents. Although strict
migration and environmental legislation tend to prioritize ecosystem
protection over anthropogenic activity, exotic species introduction by
humans, overpopulation, and illegal fishing remain formidable challenges to
conservation.
The wildlife you will see on your Galapagos tour are completely
unaffected by Galapagos travel visitors . For this reason, there is a
restricted number of visitors permitted into the Galapagos each year, as
part of a joint effort to protect the delicate environmental and ecological
equilibrium. The most sensible method of Galapagos travel is via our cruise
ships. The M/V Galapagos Legend provides 3 night, 4 night and 7 night
cruises to select from, which can also be easily merged with Galapagos
travel visits to neighboring South American locations