My time in the Galapagos Islands (Thomas Izurieta)

Earlier in the course, Prof. Redick provided an example of how two people can have different perceptions of a single thing in nature. The example was that I could be driving along the Blue Ridge Mountains and pull over to an overlook to gaze at the view. However, if Prof. Redick came along on foot while walking the Appalachian Trail, his perception of the same mountains I am looking at would be drastically different. I would be seeing the mountains for the first time, but to him, the view has been the background for a while. This almost creates two separate environments in the same place.


I related this idea to my own experiences. In 2023, I had the utmost privilege to visit the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. The biodiversity that sprang from these islands is incredible. During our stay, we boarded a large boat that would take us to different islands. They were smaller ones that surrounded the mainland. While we were there, we got off the boat onto the scorching hot rockface of Isla San Salvador. I could only describe the island as the surface of Mars. There was nothing but sand, as well as a couple of tumbleweeds holding onto the rocks for dear life. Our tour guide made note of the lack of life on the surface of the lava rock, but then we had the opportunity to get underwater, and everything changed. During my stay, I spent time both underwater with SCUBA and snorkeling. On this particular island, the underwater world was completely different from the terrestrial surface. The sand below me, aligning the reef, was barely visible as it was aligned by a carpet of fish. Small sharks would swim through the schools, and sea lions swarmed us, bumping into our fins, trying to get us to play tag. Color was everywhere, and the water was cool and crystal clear. The coral was exceptionally vibrant, even more so than in places like the Bahamas. We were swimming in fairly shallow water, so all the colors could be seen with our eyes. Under the reef walls were little crevices filled with life. Some had lobsters, some had stingrays. Some had piles of resting white-tip reef sharks. 


After we had left the Island, I was in a state of awe at the sheer beauty of this place. However, this emotion was not shared by everyone in my family. My mom and a few of my peers decided against getting into the water.  During their stay on the island, what they remember about it is drastically different from myself. They only reflect on the trip as a sandy, hot martian expedition. To me, it was an exposure to more biodiversity than I had ever seen in my life. 


I did a little research on the Islands in my free time and discovered that when Spanish and English explorers stumbled across the Islands, they described them as lifeless and bare. All they had seen was the dry landscape of the rocky coasts. But when Darwin arrived on the islands and truly saw the life that they offered, the Galapagos Islands have since been regarded as a powerhouse of biodiversity. This led Darwin to develop the theory of evolution. Reconnecting this to my earlier point, I find it extremely fascinating that different individuals can witness the same natural wonder, yet experience it so differently from others. I have my very own Galapagos amongst my memories, and other people have theirs. 

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