Mark Newman - Galapagos: In Darwins Footsteps

By Mark Newman

Copyright 2012 Mark Newman
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Copyright 2012 Mark Newman
All Rights Reserved

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Carolyn French, withoutwhose perceptive suggestions for revisions the twice-as-longoriginal manuscript would still be languishing on a shelf; TerryDomico for suggesting the title for this book and for being mypartner on other book projects; Tony Dawson, for getting me up tospeed with computers and for being, as he calls it, my "discdoctor"; my artistic sister, Wendy, for her invaluable help withthe map graphics and for the scanning of historical photos; JuanVera for showing me the wildlife and explaining the naturalfeatures of the various islands that we visited; the Charles DarwinFoundation and the Galapagos National Park Service for theirextraordinary efforts to preserve the Galapagos ecosystem, mostrecently demonstrated by the success of Project Isabela; DaveMcCargo for being a good traveling companion and a good sport; andmy then-wife, Kathy, for putting up with my travels as best as shecould. And special thanks to Mark Eisenstadt for a finalproofreading and editing of the manuscript and for his varioussuggestions on how to improve it. This is the second time he's cometo my rescue. Also thanks again to Maureen Cutajar in Malta forformatting the manuscript.

FOREWORD

Like Darwins finches, this book has gonethrough its own evolution. It began as a field journal writtenduring my January-to-March trip to the Galapagos in 1996.

Writing in the Kofa Mountains and at LakeHavasu in Arizona, and then in Haines and Anchorage in Alaska, Iworked the journal notes into a 275 page travel narrative with noillustrations.

After that came innumerable rewritesfollowing the suggestions first of my original agent, Ivy Stone,and more recently Carolyn French. Carolyn told me that writing isall about rewriting. The manuscript shrank significantly inlength and came to include a number of my photographs. Finalrevisions were undertaken in Whitehorse in the Yukon, and inWoodside and San Francisco in California.

In order to survive, the Galapagos tortoiseadapted to unique environmental challenges, forming fourteendifferent races. My book, in undergoing multiple changes over a 15year period, has adapted to the realities of the publishinglandscape.

I hope you enjoy the book in its currentstate of evolution.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
September 2011
Mark Newman

"Traveling makes men wiser, but they learn new habitswhich cannot be gratified when they return home."

Thomas Jefferson 1789, Paris

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive,nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive tochange."

Charles Darwin

"Not all who wander are lost"

JRR Tolkien

Chapter One
DARWIN & THE GALAPAGOS CALL

I have been a professional wildlifephotographer for over thirty years. I had already spent timephotographing on all seven continents when I decided to visit theGalapagos Islands. With my having a passion for adventure andtravel in addition to an enthusiasm for capturing new and exoticphotographic imagery, its a wonder that I hadnt traveled theresooner. In addition to my wildlife quest, I was also fascinated byCharles Darwins scientific voyage to the islands aboard theH.M.S. Beagle in 1835. Although it is a different placetoday than in the 19th century, much of the Galapagos ecosystemremains intact. I hoped it would still be possible to experiencesome of what Darwin encountered on his long-ago journey, and inthat sense to walk in his footsteps.

I invited a friend, Dave McCargo, toaccompany me on the adventure. In the past we had traveled togetherto places such as Borneo and Australias outback, and I knew he wasdependable and good at working out logistics.

Darwin never had the luxury of choosing histraveling companions. He was invited on the Beaglesfive-year voyage by the ships captain, and it was a matter ofeither take it or leave it. Darwin suffered much during the longvoyage, both emotionally and physically. If he had had a buddyalong he might have fared a good deal better.

The Galapagos Islands, lying 576 miles offthe coast of Ecuador, occupy a land mass half as large as Hawaii.The islands drift slowly from northwest to southeast over an oceanfloor volcanic hotspot that spews molten lava, sporadicallyresulting in full-blown eruptions on the surface of the two mostwesterly islands of the archipelago, Isabela and Fernandina.

Isabela was the third island of thearchipelago that Darwin visited. The fact that he had time only tosurvey the island but not to climb to the tops of any of its fivetall volcanoes made me eager to explore even beyond the realm ofwhat Darwin had seen. I knew that SierraNegra, thethird highest volcano on Isabela, was climbable and readilyaccessible. Darwin had noticed steam coming from the top of one ofthe volcanoes probably SierraNegra-- and mentionedthat observation in his diary entry for September 29, 1835.

The Galapagos Islands formed de novo,that is to say, they had never been attached to a mainlandcontinent. Because their distance from South America is sosubstantial, the flora and fauna that came to inhabit these oceanup thrusts were able, over many tens of thousands of years, todevelop into races that are unique in all the world.

Charles Darwin was the first person to bringthe phenomenon of the diversity of these races to world attentionin any meaningful way. He wasnt, however, the first one to noticethe diversity. That distinction belongs to Nicolas Lawson, theGovernor of Floreana Island during Darwins visit. But Darwin wasthe first to capitalize on that knowledge. During his five-yearvoyage aboard the ninety-foot ship, the Beagle, he onlyspent an astonishingly short five weeks in the Galapagos, visitingonly four of the islands. The year was 1835.

Those five weeks proved to be perhaps themost momentous field time ever engaged in by a naturalist. Based inlarge part on his resulting observations, twenty-four years later,in 1859, Darwin published his revolutionary bombshell, On TheOrigin of Species.

If it wasnt for Darwin, the GalapagosIslands today would arguably be just another jumble of obscure,black rocks jutting above the oceans surface. Instead, the islandshave been elevated to National Park status (1959) by the governmentof Ecuador and to World Heritage Site status (1979) by the UnitedNations (UNESCO). In addition, they are the focus of ongoingscientific scrutiny by the international conservation community anda model demonstration of the benefits of ecotourism. The Galapagosprovides for the sustainable influx of over two hundred milliontourist dollars into the Ecuadorian economy every year.

If it hadnt been for Charles Darwin, Iprobably would have visited Baja or perhaps Costa Rica instead ofthe Galapagos. Without Darwins legacy it is highly unlikely thatmy travel agent could have so routinely come up with plane ticketsfor this so isolated of Pacific locations. Over thirty jets land inthe Galapagos each week.