CNH Tours

Yesterday, the Galapagos National Park Service, with the support of the Environmental Police found a total of 1,313 dried sea cucumbers (20 kilos) within luggage several foreign tourists.  The tourists were immediately arrested.
Rangers performing regular load control and ecological airport luggage inspections at the main airport on Baltra island detected the presence of strange packages within the luggage of seven passengers, mostly Asians.

The species of sea cucumber in question is a protected species worldwide.   It's included in Appendix III of CITES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Wildlife Silvestre). Appendix three implies restrictions in the international trade of this species - they can only be exported with specific permits.  The CITES Convention was signed by more than 160 states and ratified Ecuador in February 1975.

The Galapagos sea cucumber fishery is currently closed.   It opens seasonally, for a few months, depending on the results of population studies and is strictly controlled.   In the 1990's, sea cucumbers were the focus of at times violent confrontations between fishermen, the police and the National Park Service.  CNH Tours Heather Blenkiron was working at the Darwin Station in those days and remembers them well.   The fishery, having been exhausted on the coast in the 1980's drew many illegal fisherman to the Galapagos in the 1990s, eventually leading to the fishing conflicts there.   Over the years, a mutually supported fisheries management protocol was developed, ensuring the sustainability of the catch - even though sea cucumber numbers today are only a fraction of what they were 20 years ago.

First handed down a 45 day revocation of its operating permit in Galapagos on the 23^rd of May, the ship, in mid-cruise at the time, was forced to stay at the Baltra island port in Galapagos when it arrived there on the 27^th.   However, the company managed to be granted an appeal in the evening of the 26^th, and sailed again on the 28^th, the new group of passengers having had their departure delayed by a day.   However, the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) reported on the 31^st  of May that the appeal had been quashed, and that the revocation of the ship's permit was again in place, and enforced.   It seems that the passengers currently on board will once again be the last on the Xpedition for several weeks.

This situation arose after the ship was found to be carrying out-of-season lobsters in its freezers during routine inspections carried out by the GNPS, in contravention of park regulations.   The GNPS successfully argued for the full application of the law and the ship was required to pay a fine, and lost its operations permit, effectively immediately, for 45 days.

CNH Tours applauds the effective application of the law in Galapagos.   We lived and worked in the islands, during the time of the "fishing wars", where violence broke out from time to time over the government's efforts at establishing sustainable fisheries regulations.  A good deal of effort and money went into that process, obtaining information on the ecology of the fisheries, on developing relationships with the fishing community, and together, coming to agreements on regulations.   Advances made should not be lost.   The law must be applied, and more importantly, must be seen to be applied amongst local people, and fishing groups.   Even the largest, most globally connected ships must be subjected to the laws and regulations.  

CNH Tours does suggest that in the future, such infractions be sanctioned in such a way that does not affect travelers though.   Imposing large fines, in proportion to the cost of a 45 day revocation of the operations permit is an option worth considering.  

The first ever recorded observation of a Dolphin gull (Leucophaeus scoresbii)  was reported by the Galapagos National Park Service (GNPS) this week.  Naturalist guide, Franklin Guaranda announced his sighting, backed up by pictures.   The bird was spotted at Black Turtle Cove, on the north side of Santa Cruz island.  Only accessible by cruise ship, this site is usually visited to see sharks, rays, sea turtles in its shallow waters, and to observe mangrove ecosystems.    

Ornithologists at the Charles Darwin Research station studied the pictures taken by Mr. Guaranda and confirmed the species, also noting that it was the first ever recording of that species in the islands.    The bird normally lives off the coast of Argentina, particularly in the south, and in the Falkland islands, and in Southern Chile. 

This incident illustrates how the wildlife is well monitored in Galapagos.  There are naturalist guides and many avid birders traveling in the archipelago at all times, allowing for credible reporting of rare or unusual species.    The Dolphin gull would certainly have been an unexpected surprise for any birders accompanying Mr. Guaranda that day!

Dolphin Gull

The Galapagos National Park Service announced on 23 May that the the Celebrity Xpedition was judged to have been in breach of the law when, on 11 March of this year, during a regular inspection, Park wardens discovered lobster tails and octopus in their refrigerators at a time when the fishing season for these species was closed - and no ships were allowed to have them, even frozen.

The penalty includes a fine and a 45 day revocation of its operations permit in the islands, applied immediately. This means that guests booked on the Xpedition will have their travel plans serious disrupted.   CNH Tours advises anyone having any plans to travel on the Xpedition in the next 7 weeks to contact their travel agent immediately. 

The seas around Galapagos are part of the Galapagos Marine Reserve and also a World Heritage site. They are protected against excessive fishing pressures.   For this reason, there are clear fishing seasons and catch limits for different species, and clear regulations regarding what can be consumed at what times of year, including even what can be transported.    

CNH Tours found this post, on TripAdvisor, today, 26 May:

"Booked our Galapagos cruise with Celebrity almost 12 months ago. We're in Quito now; the four of us, just told late tonight by the cruise line that we will not be on the cruise ship tomorrow. Sat in the lobby for a while, then we went into a small room with 80+ people for a briefing - apparently the delay is a result of a sanction on the ship by the Galapagos National Park. After the briefing, sill no answers to "EXACTLY" if or when we'll be able to go on the cruise. They do not have any answers to compensation or guarantee whether this dream trip of ours will ever happen with the time and money that we have committed. It is hard to determine how they can ever make us whole. Given other recent cruise incidents, it will be interesting to see if Celebrity can rise up, or just sink down with the rest of them."

Galapagos National Park Saff discovering lobser tails on the Celebrity Xpedition, 11 March 2013 (courtesy Galapagos National Park Service).

Google… StreetTrail View Comes to Galapagos

The Galapagos National Park service announced today  =that those who can't visit the Galapagos just now can still have a great opportunity to "see" what this World Heritage site is all about is, thanks to the alliance of the Galapagos National Park Service, the Charles Darwin Foundation and Google, which for the first time in Ecuador will capture all kinds of 360 degree images along trails.   

Park rangers accompanied Google and Darwin Station staff to several visitor sites and seascapes on the islands of San Cristobal,  Santa Cruz and Isabela, where they captured three types of images for the project  - closed environments, terrestrial visitor sites and the seabed.   A tour of the Sierra Negra crater Isabela (the 2^nd largest volcanic caldera in the world - and often in the clouds…), the North Seymour visitor trail (habitat of bird species such as blue-footed boobies and frigate) and the tortoise breeding centre in San Cristobal.  

The Piper Navajo twin-engine 7 passenger plane was presented to the authorities in recent days on Isabela Island as an alternative interisland connectivity, invoking the rather spotty service record of the existing company, EMETEBE.

The plane is owned by Julio Zavala, Galápagos resident naturalist guide, piloted by experienced pilots and managed by Jaime Morales Polit, who has been involved in the aviation business for over 20 years.

It should be noted that there have been several attempts to establish an interisland carrier with regular flights and the longest was EMETEBE, which was led for nearly two decades for its pioneering Jaime Morales Polit.  It is unclear if Mr. Polit has left EMETEBE at this point, or if he is co-managing both companies.  

Other companies that were operating interisland services in the Galapagos were Arica, whose operations were dashed after his plane crash in December 2004 (no injuries) and Saereo which ceased operations in 2013.

CNH Tours hopes that this will improve the quality and reliability of interisland air service.   EMETEBE, no doubt experienced in what it takes to run this business in Galapagos, is considered a bit non-chalant in the way it deals with clients, likely because it has had very little competition.

Over the past several months, the Galapagos Marine Reserve has placed about 30 fixed anchor systems (ecological mooring buoys), which can be used by tourist boats visiting sites where they are located.

Mario Villalta, head of Conservation and Marine Ecosystems at the Park Service, notes that this project originated with the "Zero Anchors" project, which tested various systems and materials for five systems subsequently installed in Bartholome Island.  After one and a half of use, they proved the effectiveness of these with a significant recovery of the seabed.

Through this initiative, the Park Service is promoting lower impact tourism in the archipelago, aimed at improving the quality of this activity while reducing the impacts caused by traditional mooring system (anchor and chain).  One can imagine the impact on the sea floor from dropping anchors, and chains dragging on the bottom, every day all year long, in different places.   The new system will result in only a tiny fraction of sea floor impact compared to before.

The Park Service has plans to install a total of 70 fixed anchor systems at 10 sites the marine reserve over the next while.   An added benefit will be "no more noise" from an anchor being dropped or raised in the middle of the night.     Keep an eye out for an anchoring buoy near you!

This 16 passenger day outing ship burned up last weekend just off Las Bachas beach, on the north end of Santa Cruz island.   Despite a rapid response from nearby ships, they were not able to control the fire and the ship was completely destroyed.   Nobody was hurt.    The Genovesa had just been refurbished in 2012.  If you had any plans to use this ship in the coming days/weeks, we suggest you revisit them.  

Genovesa burning up off Las Bachas beach.  Photo credit:  Ivan Lopez, Wreck Bay Diving

Yesterday (Sunday) at approximately 14h00, two rangers of the Galapagos National Park Service, part of the search team looking for a tourist considered lost since the previous day, found the body of Thomas Berman who had arrived in Galapagos the previous Tuesday.   The body was located about 118 meters from the path leading to the "Las Grietas" visitor site, near the main town of Puerto Ayora.

A group of 13 rangers, with the support of local fire department, had intensified the search in the morning, expanding the search area.   On top that, a National Park boat searched shorelines nearby. 

78 year old Mr. Berman, a British-Israeli national was reported missing by the tour operator who had sold him a trip to Isabela Island, which was scheduled to depart at 14h00 on Satureday - but Mr. Berman did not show up. Staff of the hotel where he was staying confirmed that on Saturday, Mr. Berman had left the hotel indicating he was going to Las Grietas, and intended on returning for the trip to Isabela.   The hotel surveillance cameras confirm that at 10:28 he left the hotel with a small backpack and a camera.  It was based on this information, that the Park proceeded to organize the search party.

Unfortunately, accidents do happen.  Mr. Berman was smart in having informed the hotel of his plans - otherwise, the park would not have known where to search.   The trail to Las Grietas is fairly well marked, but it's not inconceivable that someone could take a wrong turn and lose their bearings.  Heading off on unknown trails on your own is not recommended for exactly this reason.    One supposes that Mr. Berman was in good shape and confident in his ability to do the 1.5 mile / 2 km, trail - which does go over moderately rough terrain from time to time, and which is used quite regularly by locals, particularly on a weekend.   Still, one would have expected a person to have survived a little more than 24 hours in this area.  We suppose that Mr. Berman must have suffered some sort of malaise.  

Off the trail hiking in Galapagos is notoriously difficult.   Vegetation is dense, the ground can be very uneven on ancient lava flows, and a lot of plants have thorns.   Being on the equator, the sun doesn't quite help finding north and south.    A very good friend of CNH Tours and an experienced naturalist guide recently recounted his harrowing tale just in February, having lost   bearings when accompanying a scientist in the field.  It took them all day to find their way out.    Tourist and locals are reported lost fairly frequently.  Sometimes they make it back, sometimes their remains are found much later. 

Trail to Las Grietas:  Dense scrbby vegetation and lava rocks

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment reported yesterday from Galapagos that it launched the tender for the granting of Tourist Activity Operators' licenses in the park.   

A total of 31 licenses will be granted as follows:  

Scuba diving - day trips:    5 in Santa Cruz, 8 in San Cristobal, and 2 for Villamil on Isabela. 

Bay tours:  4 in Santa Cruz, 6 in San Cristobal and 6 in Villamil.

CNH Tours is always very pleased to see the government authorities establishing order in the tourism sector of Galapagos.    While cruise ship tourism has been highly regulated for many years, land based tourism has been a bit of a free for all.   Until the mid to late 1990's, the vast majority of visitors to Galapagos did a cruise ship visit, leaving only a very small land based sector.   But as demand grew and as the government kept a lid on the expansion on the number of cruise ships allowed to operate in the islands (over environmental conservation and visitor experience quality concerns), and as cruise ship prices rose, there has been a very rapid expansion of land based visitors to the islands.    This happened before the authorities could implement any measures to control the proliferation and quality of services. 

Yesterday's announcement is part of the effort to ensure that visitors to Galapagos will be well taken care of, that safety measures are in place and that all service providers operate from the same, level playing field.    This complements the Ministry of Tourism's OK Galapagos campaign, which provides the "OK Galapagos" label to all tourism service providers that operate according to regulations.    CNH Tours always encourages visitors to patronize legal and licensed service providers in Galapagos (e.g. hotels, bay tours, inter-island transport operators) to ensure that the tourism industry in the islands grows in a sustainable, safe way.