Pinta island map8/17/2023 According to whaler’s logs, between 18, around 15,000 tortoises were removed for food. The number of tortoises also drastically declined around this time period. This meant that there were huge losses to the whale population in the area, and fur seals were close to extinction. The Galapagos Islands were one of the main whaling sites until a whaling base was established in Japan in 1819. He also released four goats onto the Island of Santiago – the descendants of these goats quickly grew to outnumber indigenous species on the islands and are now labelled an invasive species. In 1813 the US Frigate Essex, headed by Captain David Porter, fought and captured a number of British whaling ships in Galapagos. The map that Colnett’s investigations produced is attributed with alerting whalers to the area and increasing whaling in the Galapagos Islands for over a century. In 1793 the English Captain James Colnett was sent to investigate the Islands’ potential for whaling. During the 19 th century, Spanish power in Latin America was declining and countries began to trade independently with England. Rise of the whalersĮventually, piracy started to decrease and a business where more money could be made started to gain popularity. It is thought that Selkirk inspired the story of Robinson Crusoe. On the way, he rescued Alexander Selkirk from the Juan Fernandez Islands near Chile. In 1708, Dampier returned to the Islands. In 1697 Englishman William Dampier published his book ‘A New Voyage Round the World’ showing the Galapagos from a naturalist perspective. They landed on Buccaneers Cove and a crew member (Ambrose Cowley) made a navigation chart of the Galapagos Island. In 1684 the ship ‘Bachelor’s Delight’ had to take refuge on Santiago after Captain John Cook fell ill. The Islands also provided much needed supplies of fresh meat for the pirates, but the water was scarce, so they never stayed on the Islands too long. The Islands were close enough to allow for raiding, but remote enough to make escape possible. The Islands were perfectly placed in the Pacific Ocean, making them a great strategic position from which to raid the mainland. Pirates began to use the Galapagos Islands as a place of refuge to hide from pursuers. Ambrose Cowley’s First Chart of the Islands
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