Galapagos Penguins Need ‘Condos’ With Global Warming

Galapagos Penguins Need ‘Condos’ With Global Warming (Update1)

By Jeremy van Loon

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Galapagos Islands, renowned for rare animals that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, may have to create special shelters to save species from global warming and rising sea levels.

Scientists who met there last week decided the indigenous penguin needs “condos” built in cooler, higher areas to nest more safely, Giuseppe Di Carlo, marine climate-change manager at Conservation International, said in an interview. Shadier bushes would protect plants and animals such as birds and tortoises that produce too many of the same sex in hotter weather.

“The challenge that we’re facing is a high rate of extinction,” Di Carlo said from the conference. “This will have consequences for the islands’ human population as the economy here is based almost entirely on tourism and fishing.”

The Ecuadorean territory 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) west of Guayaquil in the Pacific is one of the few places on Earth where tropical and cold-water species of fish and animals co- exist, helped by a meeting of sea currents, including the Humboldt. Climate and species scientists who gathered there 150 years after Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” are studying how to help the islands adapt to climate change.

The protected archipelago, named after its giant tortoises, was placed by UNESCO on its list of threatened world heritage sites last June due to growing tourism, illegal immigration from the mainland and the arrival of non-endemic species like rats and goats that adversely affect native flora and fauna. Rats eat rare bird and reptile eggs on the Galapagos, scientists say.

Harriet the Giant Tortoise

The Galapagos, comprised of more than 200 islands, islets and rock outcrops, include unique wildlife such as the only lizard that can live in the sea and the giant land tortoise, one of which, Harriet, was collected by Darwin and died in 2006 at the Australia Zoo in Queensland at age 176.

When Darwin, aboard the ship the Beagle, visited the Galapagos in 1835, he collected specimens such as finches that led to his theory that species evolve by natural selection. Pink iguanas unseen by Darwin when he visited the islands were identified as a new species, scientists said in January.

Because of their remote location, the Galapagos may be more affected by climate change. The El Nino effect, a warming of equatorial waters in the eastern Pacific that affects ocean currents and climate around the world, may become more intense and variable with global warming, Di Carlo said.

Rising Sea Levels

Ice melting near the poles may cause sea levels to rise at least 50 centimeters (20 inches) by the end of this century, according to scientific findings presented to the United Nations in Copenhagen last month. The world is likely to warm by 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the same period, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of a UN panel that coordinates climate-science research, said.

Galapagos animals most threatened include the flightless cormorant, whose nests are susceptible to flooding from higher sea levels, the giant tortoise, marine iguana and Galapagos penguin, according to Conservation International, an environment group based in Washington.

The penguin, spheniscus mendiculus, is the only one of its kind to live on the equator due to the cool water and air temperatures from ocean currents. One of the smallest penguins, it weighs about 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds), measuring about 50 centimeters and eats sardines and mullet.

Penguins Prefer Cooler Mating

Penguins are very “fussy” about where they live and are unwilling to move their nests, Di Carlo said. Scientists say they want to provide them with more shady homes of stone or concrete because the birds mate better in cooler temperatures.

An indication of how animals and plants in the Galapagos will respond to climate change is provided by El Nino. If the phenomenon becomes stronger, that may harm the fish population, hurting fishermen’s livelihoods and damaging the tourism industry, which relies on diving. Fishing and tourism make up 90 percent of the Galapagos economy.

The Galapagos have a population of about 40,000 people, a 40-fold gain in the past half-century. Isabella, the largest island, is still being formed by volcanic activity, and most of the rocky archipelago was designated a national park by Ecuador.

The islands attract tour boats, regulated by Ecuador, and areas to walk and visit on Isabella and elsewhere are restricted by park authorities to protect flora and fauna that include the blue-footed boobie.

Other island ecosystems affected by human-caused changes include Macquarie, a United Nations World Heritage Site, where plants and animals introduced by humans as a source of food have overrun native species.

Island chains such as the Maldives, popular with tourists and honeymooners, also are in danger of being submerged by rising waters in the coming years amid climate change.

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