Journals from the week ending September 27, 1996
On the Galapagos Islands
by Charlotte Redway
9/23/96, aboard ship...The Galapagos Islands were formed from underwater volcanoes. The largest island, Isabella, is said to have formed when five volcanoes reached the surface of the water at about the same time. The island of Santa Cruz, where we visited was formed from one volcano. An area, like the Galapagos Islands, with lots of underwater volcanoes, is called a, "hot spot." On the island of Santa Cruz I saw craters, lava tubes, and lots of lava rocks. One day we went for a horse back ride. The views we saw of mountains, trees and lush green vegetation seemed to go on forever. I was surprised to see so much vegetation on an island formed from a volcano, but as it was explained to me, over time the plants adapt to their surroundings. I also saw lots of giant tortoises; I could see many tortoises scattered over the landscape.
How did the plants and animals get to the Galapagos Islands? They originally either floated on masses of vegetation, swam or flew to the Galapagos. It is estimated that only one out of every one thousand animals, that made it to the islands, survived. Many couldn't find mates or couldn't survive in the environment. The animals on the Galapagos Islands are very unique because of the environment. The islands are almost exactly on the equator, but the water is cold. The water is cold because it comes in a current from the Antarctic. We went snorkeling one day and could definitely feel how cold the water was. We all love to swim but we didn't stay in very long.
During our snorkel adventure we got to swim with sea lions. They were amazing, much bigger than I had expected. There were also blue-footed boobies, pelicans, and finches. These birds have been on the Galapagos Islands for a long time. A famous scientist named Charles Darwin came up with a theory of "survival of the fittest." after observing the finches. "Survival of the fittest" means that the species best fit for the environment will survive. The species that survives will then reproduce other species similar to themselves. Charles Darwin came up with this theory after noticing that the beaks of the finches differed from island to island. For example, on some islands, there were a lot of bugs and the finch's beaks were built to make eating those bugs easy.
Superstitions
by Elizabeth Hoffman
9/23/96, aboard ship...Onboard Concordia, and many other ships, there are many superstitions. A common one for everyone is Friday the thirteenth. If you leave a port on this day, it is said to bring bad luck. Whistling onboard is also a "no no" because it could bring the wrong winds. A third superstition is to feed King Neptune rum or to have the Captain sacrifice a pair of old shoes to bring wind when a ship is crossing the Doldrums, a stretch of sea where there is little wind. Another superstition that is very common is when you are heading to a new port you should never write or say, "our next destination is ..." you should actually say, "we're heading towards..." You should also never write the name of the port until after you have reached your destination; you leave that space in your log book blank until you have actually arrived. These are only a few of the superstitions that people at sea believe. It has been my experience that you either believe the superstitions and have good wind or ignore them and suffer the consequences!
Ocean Challenge / e-mail: ocean@oceanchallenge.com / Class Afloat '96-'97
(c) Copyright 1996, Ocean Challenge