Galapagos Man Vs. Nature
The climate is tropical, but is tempered by the Pacific Ocean's cold Humboldt current, explaining the presence of both warm-climate animals (tortoises and iguanas) and cold (penguins and sea lions).
The Galapagos, a chain of islands some 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador (country on the northwest coast of South America) is home to some 9,000 rare giant tortoises, for which the islands were named. The tortoises measure up to 1.5 meters long by one meter high and live more than 100 years.
These species have evolved in millions of years in isolation, with little human intervention. The Galapagos have been inhabited by man only since the 16th century. A statement from the Swiss-based World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the spill could have "a deep and lasting impact" on the creatures of Galapagos, which were observed by British naturalist Charles Darwin as he developed the theory of evolution around 1835.
Among the animals are different types of finches, the variety of whose beaks led Darwin to understand how living creatures evolved to survive in their particular environment.
The WWF's Peter Kramer, a former president of the Darwin Foundation which works to support an international research station on the islands, said they were the site of "some of the world's most exceptional biological diversity."
On Tuesday, January 16, the Ecuadorean-registered tanker "Jessica" ran aground on rocks, 800 meters off San Cristobal, the easternmost island in the Galapagos chain. When the accident occurred the "Jessica" was carrying 600,000 liters of diesel fuel and 300,000 liters of IFO 120 (a heavy fuel used by tour boats that operate in the islands), a total of 900,000 liters, of which 655,000 liters spilled into the sea.
The ship's captain has admitted he was to blame for the accident. Tarquino Arevalo, 58, said he misjudged his entry into the tiny harbor, prophetically named "Shipwreck Bay". Arevalo is to face charges of damaging the environment - a crime in the Galapagos.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. But local fishermen, who helped scoop the fuel by hand with buckets and now fear for their livelihood, say the government and the company that owns the tanker should take the heat for the disaster, not the captain.
"Who is responsible for this? It is not the poor captain. Who gave permission for fuel like that to be transported through here? It is the government and the company that owns the boat who must stand accountable," said angry local fisherman Manuel Gordillo.
The WWF said it was crucial for the Ecuadorean government and the international shipping community to consider designating the waters around these islands as a particularly sensitive sea area.
Environmentalists have for years feared such an accident off the islands, which lie across shipping routes from the western coast of Central and South America.
They say keeping clear of the islands would add at most only two days to the route southwestwards toward Australia and west toward Indonesia, but that shipping companies have been reluctant to incur the extra cost.
We have only one planet. It is the only planet we know of which contains life. It is our home. This planet does not belong only to us - human beings - it also belongs to pelicans, tortoises, finches, and iguanas. It belongs to millions of species, colorful, variant, vibrant, of which we may be unaware, but which have as much right to life and to live on this planet as we humans do.
The human being must come out of its self-centeredness. We must cease believing that we are the only creatures entitled to life on earth, with permission to use all of its resources, and spill fossil fuel into pristine, crystalline ocean waters, for the sake of our greed, our personal gain, our progress, our efficiency, our selfishness.
If we do not respect nature and other living things, we will destroy our planet and consequently ourselves.
Reuters and AFP were some of the sources.