Mooring Buoys for Galapagos
One of the problems caused by having so many tourist boats in Galapagos is the damage that their anchors cause to the marine environment. With more than 100 vessels anchoring twice a day, that is in excess of 73,000 anchors pounding the seabed each year, doing unknown and untold damage to the seabed and its ecosystem. To reduce the impact of the vessels, the Galapagos National park, together with CDF, the Ecuadorian Navy, Conservation International and Wild Aid have started a programme to site 300 mooring buoys in all the main anchorages. The first five have been laid in Bartholome, one of the most visited sites in Galapagos, frequented by large and small boats.