Charles Darwin Research Station

The Charles Darwin Research Station was established in 1959 on the Shores of Academy Bay in the village of Puerto Ayora. This station is used by Ecuadorian and foreign scientists working to conserve the ecology. The Charles Darwin Foundation, a foundation created to protect the Galapagos Islands, for more than fifty years, has funded the research station. This foundation has saved the Española Tortoise from extinction, created the fourth largest marine reserve in the world, created a quarantine system, and trained thousands of students from Ecuador and the Galapagos. In 2014, they monitored 120 species, planted 5,000 endemic and native seedlings, and 35,000 hours researching the parasitic the philornis downsi fly. The research station has many cool features. It features a sandy beach, a museum, breeding program for giant tortoises, land iguanas, and a meteorological weather center.

A video that takes you around the Charles Darwin Research Center 

There is a sandy beach known as Playa de la Estación for everyone to enjoy.  There is a museum containing information on environment issues that affect the islands such as invasive species. Following the museum, you will then go to the tortoise breeding center.

Charles Darwin Research Center 

In the late 1970’s, the tortoise population declined because they were used as food and for money by the colonists and pirates. The research station has a center for the tortoises known as the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center. The tortoise’s center works together with the Galapagos National Park Directorate and the Charles Darwin Foundation.  It gets the tortoise when they are eggs, incubates them until they hatch, and nurtures them till they are about four or are able to survive in the wild. Any tortoises believed not to be able to survive in the wild are kept in the adult housing area. There are tortoises varying in size and shape. There will be un-hatched eggs to the adult tortoise. The station features eleven subspecies of tortoises. Since the establishment of the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center,  they have released more than 2,000 tortoises. One of the most famous tortoises was Lonesome George who was more than ninety years old and was the last remaining member of the Pinta Islan subspecies before his death in 2012. There will be many opportunities to get close up pictures of the tortoises

Lonesome George at the Research Station 

The station also has Galapagos land iguanas. The research station was able to rescue 60 of them after they were almost all killed by a colony of wild dogs. The station began a breeding program to rebuild their population.

Galapagos land iguana 

It has a Meteorological Weather Station, the only one left on the island. It began operating in 1960 and was later taken over by the Charles Darwin Foundation. The weather station is a second order installation, which means it takes complete and regular observations. The station also contains a pluviometer, a cyclometer, and a heliograph. The pluviometer is used to measure the amount of rain. The cyclometer is a thermometer of the maximum and the minimum. The Heliograph measures the amount of sun in a day.

Why was the Charles’ Darwin Research Center established? What parts of the center are you most excited to see? Would you be interested in becoming one of the scientist that works at the center?

Bibliography: 

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin_Research_Station
• http://www.ecoventura.com/what-is-the-charles-darwin-research-station/ 
• http://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/the-islands/santa-cruz/ 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hf6oZHDMp8 
• http://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/news/ 
• http://www.konicaminolta.com/kids/endangered_animals/library/field/img/galapagos-land-iguana_img01-l.jpg 
• http://www.galapagos.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/LG-by-Tim-Saxe.jpg
• http://www.redmangrove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/charles-darwin-research-station-entrance-580x386.jpg