Thank you for your interest in our Galapagos Day webinar – it has now ended. We will be posting a recording of the webinar here as soon as it is available.
The webinar served to highlight the unique species in Galapagos and what we can do about the threats that they face, including from huge industrial fishing fleets and plastic pollution.
Industrial fishing fleets are a major threat to the marine life of Galapagos – once they leave the protection of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, migratory species such as endangered scalloped hammerhead and whale sharks run the risk of being caught either directly or indirectly as bycatch. In May 2020, Hong Kong customs officials seized 26 tonnes of shark fins found in shipping containers from Ecuador, taken from 38,500 sharks and worth over US$ 1 million.
100 million sharks are killed every year, often for their fins © Galapagos National Park
Plastic pollution is an increasing threat to wildlife in Galapagos. Over 8 tonnes of plastic are removed from the Islands’ beaches each year – and there is much more that remains unseen in the ocean. One of the key sources of this plastic pollution has been identified as the fishing fleets that operate in the waters around Galapagos.
Plastic entanglement can have fatal consequences © Galapagos Conservation Trust
We want to ensure that other marine species that live in or visit the Galapagos Marine Reserve have the protection that they deserve. Here are some of the ways that you can help us today:
A ‘tribute’ to Hope the whale shark, who went missing earlier this year. Your contribution will fund action to help us protect the precious wildlife of Galapagos from threats such as plastic pollution and industrial fishing.
Try out our new Citizen Science Website
Get directly involved in vital marine conservation work, including helping to make Galapagos plastic pollution free.
Find out more about our programmes
Learn more about our Endangered Sharks of Galapagos and Plastic Pollution Free Galapagos programmes which were mentioned in the webinar.
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Keep in touch with news and work from Galapagos, and hear about other events such as this.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch via gct@gct.org.