Corals thrive on remotest islands in the Galápagos

Adapted from Bing Maps. The Galápagos Islands are not widely known for their coral reefs. Most visitors to the islands’ waters seek big charismatic residents like sharks, manta rays, sea lions and whales, or unique creatures like marine iguanas. Dive shops in the Galápagos almost exclusively advertise the opportunity to see these large creatures, while few mention corals. Yet the archipelago is home to vibrant reefs, and we commenced the global Reefscape project there. Perhaps so little is mentioned about reefs in the Galápagos today because of a history of coral bleaching across the archipelago. The scientific literature reports ocean temperature spikes of up to 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) during the 1982-83 and 1997-98 El Niño events, and again to a much lesser degree in 2015. El Niño’s hot waters pushed many corals beyond their thermal tolerances, resulting in widespread reef-scale bleaching. Reef off Darwin and Wolf Islands, northwest Galápagos. Photo by Greg Asner / DivePhoto.org Reefscape off Darwin and Wolf Islands, northwest Galápagos. Photo by Greg Asner / DivePhoto.org. Starting on Santa Cruz, the most inhabited island in the Galápagos, we joined a dive operation to observe shallow reefs along the shoreline. We found very little coral cover, around 1 to 3 percent, which our hosts described as deeply diminished compared to “the old days”. Yet they didn’t just blame El Niño, but also increasing coastal pollution and fishing. Like most oceanic islands, the Galápagos have a history of increasing fishing pressure dating back to European whalers,…

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