Floreana Island
Encyclopedia
Floreana Island is an island of the Galápagos Islands
. It was named after Juan José Flores
, the first president
of Ecuador
, during whose administration the government of Ecuador took possession of the archipelago, having previously been called Charles Island (after King Charles II of England
). It is also called Santa Maria
after one of the caravel
s of Columbus
.
The island has an area of 173 km² and a maximum altitude of 640 metres.
kept a wooden barrel that served as post office
so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination, mainly Europe
and the United States
by ships on their way home. Cards and letters are still placed in the barrel without any postage. Visitors sift through the letters and cards in order to deliver them by hand.
Due to its relatively flat surface, supply of fresh water as well as plants and animals, Floreana was a favorite stop for whalers and other visitors to the Galapagos. When still known as Charles Island in 1819, the island was set alight by a sailor from the Nantucket whaling ship the Essex. On the same voyage one year later the Essex was sunk by a massive bull sperm whale
.
In September 1835 the second voyage of HMS Beagle
brought Charles Darwin
to Charles Island. The ship's crew was greeted by the Acting Governor of Galápagos, Nicolas Lawson, and at the prison colony Darwin was told that tortoises differed in the shape of the shells from island to island, but this was not obvious on the islands he visited and he did not bother with collecting their shells. He industriously collected all the animals, plants, insects and reptiles, and speculated about finding "from future comparison to what district or 'centre of creation' the organized beings of this archipelago must be attached."
In 1929, Frederich Ritter and Dore Straucher arrived in Guayaquil from Berlin to settle on Floreana, and sent messages back encouraging others. In 1932 Heinz and Margaret Wittmer arrived with their son Harry, and shortly afterwards their son Rolf was born there, the first citizen of the island to have been born in the Galápagos. Later in 1932, the self-described "Baroness" von Wagner Bosquet arrived with companions, but a series of strange disappearances and deaths left Margaret Wittmer as the sole survivor of the group who had settled there. She set up a hotel which is still managed by her descendants, and wrote an account of her experiences in her book Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos.
The demands of these visitors and early settlers devastated much of the local wildlife and both the endemic Floreana Tortoise and the endemic Floreana Mockingbird became extinct on the island.
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
. It was named after Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores
Juan José Flores y Aramburu was a Venezuelan military general who became Supreme Chief, and later the first President of the new Republic of Ecuador. He later served two more terms from 1839 to 1843 and from 1843 to 1845, and is often referred to as "The founder of the Republic".-Biography:Flores...
, the first president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, during whose administration the government of Ecuador took possession of the archipelago, having previously been called Charles Island (after King Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
). It is also called Santa Maria
Santa María (ship)
La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción , was the largest of the three ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage. Her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa.-History:...
after one of the caravel
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...
s of Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
.
The island has an area of 173 km² and a maximum altitude of 640 metres.
History
At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalersWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
kept a wooden barrel that served as post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination, mainly Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by ships on their way home. Cards and letters are still placed in the barrel without any postage. Visitors sift through the letters and cards in order to deliver them by hand.
Due to its relatively flat surface, supply of fresh water as well as plants and animals, Floreana was a favorite stop for whalers and other visitors to the Galapagos. When still known as Charles Island in 1819, the island was set alight by a sailor from the Nantucket whaling ship the Essex. On the same voyage one year later the Essex was sunk by a massive bull sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
.
In September 1835 the second voyage of HMS Beagle
Second voyage of HMS Beagle
The second voyage of HMS Beagle, from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide...
brought Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
to Charles Island. The ship's crew was greeted by the Acting Governor of Galápagos, Nicolas Lawson, and at the prison colony Darwin was told that tortoises differed in the shape of the shells from island to island, but this was not obvious on the islands he visited and he did not bother with collecting their shells. He industriously collected all the animals, plants, insects and reptiles, and speculated about finding "from future comparison to what district or 'centre of creation' the organized beings of this archipelago must be attached."
In 1929, Frederich Ritter and Dore Straucher arrived in Guayaquil from Berlin to settle on Floreana, and sent messages back encouraging others. In 1932 Heinz and Margaret Wittmer arrived with their son Harry, and shortly afterwards their son Rolf was born there, the first citizen of the island to have been born in the Galápagos. Later in 1932, the self-described "Baroness" von Wagner Bosquet arrived with companions, but a series of strange disappearances and deaths left Margaret Wittmer as the sole survivor of the group who had settled there. She set up a hotel which is still managed by her descendants, and wrote an account of her experiences in her book Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos.
The demands of these visitors and early settlers devastated much of the local wildlife and both the endemic Floreana Tortoise and the endemic Floreana Mockingbird became extinct on the island.
Points of interest
- “Devil's Crown” is located off the northeast point of the island it is an underwater volcanic coneVolcanic coneVolcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic formations. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption...
, coralCoralCorals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
formations are found here. A favorite dive and snokeling site Devil's Crown offers the opportunity to snorkel with schools of fish, sea turtles, sharks and sea lions.
- At Punta Cormorant, there is a green olivine beach to see sea lions and a short walk past a lagoon to see flamingos, rays, sea turtles and ghost and Grapsus grapsusGrapsus grapsusThe crab Grapsus grapsus is one of the most common crabs along the western coast of the Americas. It is known variously as "red rock crab", "abuete negro", and, together with other crabs such as Percnon gibbesi, as "Sally Lightfoot"...
Sally Light Foot crabCrabTrue crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s. Pink flamingoFlamingoFlamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...
s and green sea turtleSea turtleSea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
s nest from December to May on this island. The "joint footed" petrel is found here, a nocturnal sea birdNocturnal animalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal"....
which spends most of its life away from land.
- Post Office Bay provides visitors the opportunity to send post cards home without a stamp via other travelers and the over 200 year old post barrel.
- A miniature football (soccer) field, complete with goals, at the end of Post Office Bay, used by tour boat crews and their tourists.