Galapagos History

The Galapagos Islands were formed by volcanic activity. Geologists argue about the age of the islands, with some opting for a maximum of 3-5 million years, and more recent studies suggesting an age of about 10 million years. Nevertheless, the islands are very young in geological terms.

Although the Inca king Tupac Yupanqui may have visited the archipelago a hundred years earlier, the Galapagos Islands were officially discovered in 1535 by Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama. A few years later another group of Spaniards accidentally discovered the islands, but reports of these two voyages emphasised the harsh appearance of the Galapagos, and the lack of fresh water, which did not encourage further exploration.

Once fresh water was sourced on the islands, they became the haunt of pirates – mostly British and French. Between the late 16th and early 18th centuries they intercepted Spanish treasure ships and raided colonial ports in what is now Peru and Ecuador.

The late 18th century saw the exploitation of the abundant whale stocks around the islands. Between 1811 and 1844 at least 700 American whaling ships were operating in the area, as well as British and other European whalers. They were soon followed by sealers, who nearly hunted the Galapagos fur seal to extinction. These operations were able to use the islands as a base in part due to the “unlimited” supply of fresh meat from the Galapagos giant tortoises, eventually wiping out the subspecies that lived on the islands of Floreana and Rabida. By 1865 whale and seal stocks had dropped so low that it was no longer viable to exploit the area.

The first human settlement was established on Floreana when Ecuador officially annexed the islands in 1832. It became a penal colony, but not a successful one. Many attempts were made to colonise other islands, including Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal, but most ended in failure or bloodshed.

In the 1920s and 30s tales of the Galapagos inspired a number of “utopia-seekers” to visit and attempt to colonise. Few early attempts showed success, but some descendents of these settlers still live on the islands – most notably those of the five Angermeyer brothers. Today, the islands have a growing population of Ecuadorians, who are active in tourism, agriculture and fishing.