Galapagos volcano erupts, endangered iguanas threatened

Eric Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Wolf Volcano, on Isabela Island in the Galapagos, erupted at dawn on Monday for the first time since 1982. The island is home to some of the world’s most endangered species, and officials feared for the safety of one species in particular – the critically endangered Galapagos rosy iguana, Conolophus marthae, which exists only on Isabela.

Smoke and fire

As plumes of smoke and fire shot from the volcano and rivers of lava flowed down the mountainside, things looked bad for the pink iguana, the yellow iguanas, and giant Chelonoidis becki tortoises which share the habitat.

But later in the day the Galapagos National Park said the iguanas’ habitat on the volcano’s northwest side was safe for now as the lava flows were on the opposite side of the island to the iguana’s home on the northwest flank. The Park authorities are waiting and hoping that the lava flows don’t move.

The eruption was first seen by a passing tourist boat. Park officials were notified and later flew over the 5,600 foot volcano to zone assess the situation.

“The eruption generated a very large column of smoke that rose more than 10 kilometers (six miles) into the air, and later drifted toward the southwest part of the volcano,” said Sandro Vaca of Ecuador’s Geophysics Institute. He also said the volcano’s activity could continue for several days, potentially causing further lava flows.

No threat to humans, just iguanas

The island’s only inhabitants are not under threat as they live in Puerto Villamil, almost 75 miles south of Wolf. Park officials also said tourism was unaffected.

Environmentalists will monitor the fate of the iguanas, which are bright pink with charcoal stripes, and were only discovered in 1986.

The Galapagos Islands are situated in one of the world’s most volcanically active regions, and Isabela Island itself has another four other volcanoes: Darwin, Alcedo, Cerro Azul, and Sierra Negra.

Volcanos are not the only danger to wildlife here. The Galapagos Islands are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and UNESCO has issued repeated warnings that the islands’ unique environment is already threatened by increasing tourism and the introduction of invasive species.

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