ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tui De Roy is a photographer, conservationist, writer and has lived in the Galápagos since she was young. See more of her work at tuideroy.com and read her paper in Ecology & Evolution at onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
IT STARTED ONE afternoon as I sat on the edge of a deserted Galápagos cliff, gazing over the sea. Absorbed in a quiet reverie, I had no inkling that I was about to witness a spectacle so incredible that it would - five years and 2,400 photographs later - lead to my first-ever scientific paper, despite having no formal academic credentials.
Ever since Charles Darwin's famed visit almost two centuries ago in 1835, the Galápagos Islands have been renowned for their remarkable array of unique flora and fauna - none more so than their extraordinary reptiles. Iconic giant tortoises and marine iguanas have long stolen the attention of the world, with some very special birds following close behind, such as Darwin's finches, Galápagos penguins and flightless cormorants.
MAMMALS, ON THE OTHER hand, are lacking, represented by just a handful of rodents and bats, and two pinnipeds of the Otariid family, known as the eared seals or more commonly as sea lions and fur seals. These agile, fast-swimming social creatures propel themselves with their front flippers, unlike true seals, which use slower, rear flipper propulsion.
The Galápagos archipelago lies slap bang on the equator, 930km off the west coast of Ecuador. Nowhere else in the world have these high-energy marine mammals conquered a tropical habitat, usually preferring the higher latitudes, where marine productivity tends to be much higher. In this regard, the Galápagos Islands buck the trend.
Cooperation vs competition
Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av BBC Wildlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Does cloning create identical copies?
EMBRYOS ARE MADE OF STEM CELLS that divide to give rise to different types of cells, everything from skin to brain cells. Scientists once thought that reproductive cloning creating a genetically identical copy of an individual organism - would be impossible without using stem cells and that the path leading to mature 'differentiated' cells was irreversible. But clawed frogs proved them wrong...
Tool-using animals
Our pick of 10 species that exhibit this special skill
Mission Blue
Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to marine conservation; she tells BBC Wildlife why protecting the ocean is essential to all life on earth
RESHARK
The world's first shark rewilding initiative has seen zebra sharks released in the waters of Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago
ON DECK
Ferries aren't just for transport, they're also perfect vessels for conservation
IT'S A COLOURFUL LIFE
Delve into the unique and complex biology of the clownfish, arguably the world's most famous fish
BAHAMAS BENEATH
A dive into the waters of this famous island nation with the creatures that call it home
"To save the reef, we need everybody involved"
Indigenous peoples may hold the key to protecting the Great Barrier Reef
SPINNING AROUND
Going around in circles proves fruitful for this filter-feeder
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
On balmy evenings, amorous beetles put on a spellbinding show in North American forests