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MV Jessica
MV ''Jessica'' was an oil tanker that was involved in an oil spill in the Galápagos Islands, a chain of islands west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part. The ship was registered in Ecuador and owned by Acotramar. On the evening of 16 January 2001, ''Jessica'' ran aground at Wreck Bay, at the entrance to the port of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galápagos Province, located on the southwestern coast of San Cristóbal Island. The ship was carrying 600 tons (160,000 gallons) of diesel oil and 300 tons (80,000 gallons) of intermediate fuel oil. The diesel was destined for the fuel dispatch station on Baltra Island, while the fuel oil was destined for the tourist vessel ''Galapagos Explorer''. On 20 January, the fuel oil began to spill from ''Jessica''. Recovery attempts began immediately, with the Ecuadorian Navy, the GNP, and local fishermen and volunteers containing and recovering the oil from the ocean surface. Oiled animals were attended to. On San Crist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecuadorian Navy
The Ecuadorian Navy () is an Ecuadorian entity responsible for the surveillance and protection of national maritime territory and has a personnel of 9,400 men to protect a coastline of 2,237 km which reaches far into the Pacific Ocean. The vessels are identified by a ship prefix of ''B.A.E.'': (Ship of the Ecuadorian Navy) or ''L.A.E.'': (Boat of the Ecuadorian Navy). Mission Organize, train, equip and maintain naval capabilities, as well as to assist and support all procedures involving national security and development. Contribute to the achievement of safeguarding national objectives in times of peace and war. Vision Maintain highly trained naval forces to secure victory within the maritime zone in order to support developing communities. As a consequence operate highly qualified military personnel whom are able to fulfill this role based on elevated moral, values and principles. History The roots of the Ecuadorian Navy or () date back to 1823 whilst forming a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shipwrecks In The Pacific Ocean
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide as of January 1999, according to Angela Croome, a science writer and author who specialized in the history of underwater archaeology (an estimate rapidly endorsed by UNESCO and other organizations). When a ship's crew has died or abandoned the ship, and the ship has remained adrift but unsunk, they are instead referred to as ''ghost ships''. Types Historic wrecks are attractive to maritime archaeologists because they preserve historical information: for example, studying the wreck of revealed information about seafaring, warfare, and life in the 16th century. Military wrecks, caused by a skirmish at sea, are studied to find details about the historic event; they reveal much about the battle that occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services of the United States, uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a Federal government of the United States, federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most Navy, navies. The U.S. Coast Guard protects the United States' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across U.S. territorial waters and its Exclusive economic zone, Exclusive Economic Zone. Due to ever-ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)
Santa Cruz Island (), also known as Indefatigable Island and by #Names, other names, is the most populous and second-largest List of islands of South America#Ecuador, island in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Situated in the middle of the group, Santa Cruz is a shield volcano with an area of and a maximum altitude of . The seat of Santa Cruz Canton, Ecuador, Santa Cruz Canton is Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. The island's total population is around 18,000 with those living in smaller villages chiefly working in agriculture and cattle raising. Names The island's original Spanish language, Spanish name was San Clemente Island ( or ) in honor of Clement of Rome, St. Clement. This was changed to Bolivia Island () in honor of the South American revolutionary hero Simón Bolívar upon the islands' annexation by Ecuador in 1832 and then to ''Santa Cruz'' (, "Holy Cross") in reference to True Cross, the cross upon which Jesus was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified during the 1892 renamin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Iguana
The marine iguana (''Amblyrhynchus cristatus''), also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galápagos marine iguana, is a species of Iguanidae, iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Unique among modern lizards, it is a marine reptile that has the ability to forage in the sea for algae, which make up almost all of its diet. Marine iguanas are the only extant lizard that spends time in a marine environment. Large males are able to dive to find this food source, while females and smaller males feed during low tide in the intertidal zone. They mainly live in Colony (biology), colonies on rocky shores where they bask after visiting the relatively cold water or intertidal zone, but can also be seen in marshes, mangrove swamps and beaches. Large males defend Territory (animal), territories for a short period, but smaller males have other breeding strategies. After mating, the female digs a nest hole in the soil where she lays her eggs, leaving them to hatch on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island (), also known as Barrington Island, is a small island of which lies in the middle of the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. Visitor access is by a wet landing in Barrington Bay on the northeastern side of the island. Names The name is Spanish for "Holy Faith" in reference to Roman Catholic Christianity. The English name ''Barrington Island'' was bestowed in 1794 by James Colnett in honor of Admiral Samuel Barrington, noted for his kindness to the sailors under his commands. Geography Santa Fe lies in the middle of the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. It is southeast of Santa Cruz Island. Environment Geologically, the island is one of the oldest of the archipelago; volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found. The vegetation of the island is characterized by brush, palo santo trees and stands of a large subvariety of the Galápagos prickly pear cactus, '' Opuntia galapageia'' subvar. ''barringtonensis''. Santa Fe is home to two e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue-footed Boobies
The blue-footed booby (''Sula nebouxii'') is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus ''booby, Sula'' – known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexual selection, sexually selected trait and a product of their diet. Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female. The female is slightly larger than the male and can measure up to long with a wingspan up to . The natural breeding habitats of the blue-footed booby are the tropical and subtropical islands of the Pacific Ocean. It can be found from the Gulf of California south along the western coasts of Central and South America to Peru. About half of all breeding pairs nest on the Galápagos Islands. Its diet mainly consists of fish, which it obtains by diving and sometimes swimming underwater in search of its prey. It sometim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Pelican
The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. The nominate subspecies in its breeding plumage has a white head with a yellowish wash on the crown. The nape and neck are dark maroon–brown. The upper sides of the neck have white lines along the base of the gular pouch, and the lower fore neck has a pale yellowish patch. The male and female are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. The nonbreeding adult has a white head and neck. The pink skin around the eyes becomes dull and gray in the nonbreeding season. It lacks any red hue, and the pouch is strongly olivaceous ochre-tinged and the legs are olivaceous gray to blackish-gray. The brown pelican mainly feeds o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galápagos Sea Lion
The Galápagos sea lion (''Zalophus wollebaeki'') is a species of sea lion that lives and breeds on the Galápagos Islands and, in smaller numbers, on Isla de la Plata (Ecuador). Being fairly social, they are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups, or gliding through the surf. While they may seem like easy friends with their proximity to heavily populated areas, it is important to keep distance from these animals, as disruption may cause issues for them and for anyone who gets too close. They are the smallest sea lion species. Taxonomy This species was first described by E. Sivertsen in 1953. It has been considered a subspecies of '' Zalophus californianus'' (called ''Z. c. wollebaeki'') by many authors. But genetic data supports ''Z. wollebaeki'' as a separate species. The species belongs to the family Otariidae and genus ''Zalophus''. Physical characteristics Slightly smaller than their Californian relatives, Galápagos sea lions range from in le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltra Island
Baltra Island () is a small island in the Galápagos Archipelago in Ecuador. It is a small flat island located near the center of the chain and includes Seymour Airport (GPS), originally established by the United States Air Force to help monitor and protect western access to the Panama Canal. Baltra is not part of the Galápagos National Park but some effort has been made to protect the local environment, including modernization of the airport and the reintroduction of the Galápagos land iguana, island's land iguanas. Names Baltra (surname), Baltra is a Spanish language, Spanish Spanish surname, surname particularly common in Chile. Baltra Island was probably named after Lieutenant Humberto Baltra Opazo (1884-1950), a naval officer on board the Chilean naval corvette General Baquedano which visited Galapagos for 3 weeks in 1910 to conduct a hydrographical survey of the archipelago; Lieutenant Baltra was specifically tasked with surveying Baltra Island and the Itabaca Channel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, about west of the mainland. The country's Capital city, capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil. The land that comprises modern-day Ecuador was once home to several groups of Indigenous peoples in Ecuador, indigenous peoples that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was Spanish colonization of the Americas, colonized by the Spanish Empire during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as a sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
