A team of researchers has discovered a nursery of baby hammerhead sharks off an island in Ecuador's Galapagos archipelago, a finding that could help protect the species from the threat of extinction. The so-called haven for hammerhead hatchlings, who are less than a year old, was discovered near Isabela Island, the Galapagos' largest island, and offers refuge for the sharks during mating and early development stages. A view shows a part of the area from the Galapagos National Park, where a shark nursery was discovered off Isabela Island in the Galapagos, Ecuador, in this photo delivered by Galapagos National Park newsletter on December 16, 2022. REUTERS/Galapagos National Park/Handout via REUTERS "The discovery of these new breeding areas is very important, especially for the ham...
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A research group rediscovered a plant called Gasteranthus extinctus, at Centinela Ridge in Western Ecuador, named to anticipate its extinction Two University of Miami researchers were part of a team that rediscovered a tropical plant species believed to be extinct for almost 40 years. At the encouragement of his advisor, biology associate professor Kenneth Feeley, graduate student Riley Fortier joined a small expedition in November to the Centinela Ridge in western Ecuador, a place well known to biologists for its many rare species. The team was searching for a low-lying South American wildflower named Gasteranthus extinctus, which was discovered in the 1980s. The species was given its unique moniker in 2000 because scientists expected the plant to be extinct, since many of the Ecua...
Read MoreFrenchwoman Nouria Newman is a dominant force in whitewater kayaking. Her astonishing new film, Wild Waters, follows her adventure as a kayaking nomad, where she claims the first descent of Pucuno falls in Ecuador and becomes the first woman to bag a first descent of 100ft+ (30.48m) waterfall drop into the bargain. After years at the forefront of her sport, claiming first descents around the world, and winning awards and recognition for her intrepid expeditions, it was in making a first descent of the Río Pucuno in Ecuador that Newman broke this latest boundary. In February of 2021, she successfully dropped what are now known as Don Wilo’s Falls. Nouria Newman in the water with her kayak right after riding a 100 feet waterfall in Ecuador on February 17, 2021.Photo: Ian Avery-Leaf / ...
Read MoreScientists have discovered that a type of giant tortoise present on one of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands is not from the species it was previously thought to be, Galapagos National Park said. A study concluded that the giant tortoises living on San Cristobal island, previously identified as Chelonoidis chathamensis, correspond genetically to a different species, the park has said in a statement. FILE PHOTO: A tortoise is pictured on the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador January 16, 2019. Galapagos National Park/Handout via REUTERS "The scientists concluded that nearly 8,000 tortoises which exist today on San Cristobal are not Chelonoidis chathamensis but correspond to a completely new lineage that has not yet been described," the park said. The discovery was ma...
Read MoreEcuador on Friday created a new marine reserve around its pristine Galapagos Islands -- whose rich biodiversity inspired Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution -- as it seeks to expand protections for endangered migratory species. Extending the reserve by 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles) is the first step in a plan agreed by Ecuador with its close neighbors Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama at the U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow last year to create a common corridor through which species threatened by climate change and industrial fishing can migrate. The existing Galapagos marine reserve, one of the largest in the world, measures some 138,000 square kilometers (53,282 square miles), and the new conservation area will see 198,000 square kilometers (76,448 square miles) ...
Read MoreDarwin's Arch, a famed natural rock formation in the Galapagos Islands that is popular with divers, photographers and cruise-ship tourists, has collapsed from erosion, Ecuadorean environmental officials said on Tuesday. Photographs posted on social media by Ecuador's Environment Ministry showed rubble from the curvature of the arch visible in the ocean, with the two supporting columns still standing. Darwin's Arch- Earlier and now "We report that the iconic Arc of Darwin collapsed," the ministry wrote in Spanish on its Facebook page. The arch, named for British naturalist Charles Darwin, stands at the northernmost tip of the Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles (965 km) west of Ecuador. Darwin’s observation of finches and organisms on the is...
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