Galapagos Islands

A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands began erupting, and authorities were evaluating possible danger to plants and animals. Rangers and tour guides spotted lava flowing down the northeastern flank of the Cerro Azul volcano on the sea-horse-shaped island of Isabela. Park official Oscar Carvajal told Radio Quito that as many as four lava flows "have consumed a lot of vegetation" but did not pose a threat to the famed Galapagos tortoises. No people on the island were in danger.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are in Ecuador with the kids in the wake of their engagement news, but as usual it's something of a working vacation for Jolie, who last week was promoted from goodwill ambassador to special envoy in her continuing gig with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was destination Galapagos Islands for the six kids and their folks, with Mom making time to visit a refugee settlement as well. Over the weekend, Jolie met with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino in the capital city, Quito, and also showed up at Providencia, a settlement in the rain forest near the banks of the San Miguel River, which forms Ecuador's border with Colombia.

The Galapagos Islands tour from Thomson Family Travel keeps the adventure quotient high -- orienteering, snorkeling, kayaking and camping on the beach -- and prices low for selected 10-day trips this summer. The Galapagos Multi-Sport Adventure begins in Quito, Ecuador, with two days in the Andean highlands that include a visit to Itchimbia Hill, 9,500 feet above sea level overlooking the city, and a stop at the Condor Project in Hacienda Zuleta to see the huge birds firsthand.

The Galapagos Islands tour from Thomson Family Travel keeps the adventure quotient high -- orienteering, snorkeling, kayaking and camping on the beach -- and prices low for selected 10-day trips this summer. The Galapagos Multi-Sport Adventure begins in Quito, Ecuador, with two days in the Andean highlands that include a visit to Itchimbia Hill, 9,500 feet above sea level overlooking the city, and a stop at the Condor Project in Hacienda Zuleta to see the huge birds firsthand.

There are a few places left on this Earth where industrial madness simply should not be allowed even to come close. The Galapagos Islands is one of them. Can someone tell me what a rust-bucket oil tanker was doing off this most precious preserve (Jan. 25)? DAN JENSEN San Clemente Congratulations to Paul Conrad for his touching cartoon of Charles Darwin weeping because of the oil spill in the Galapagos (Jan. 25). It is a tragedy the way modern technology destroys the natural environment.

A giant tortoise species studied by Charles Darwin and believed to be extinct for more than 150 years may be alive and well, an ambitious genetic survey has revealed. Blood sampling of more than 1,600 tortoises on the largest Galapagos island, Isabela, has revealed that about 84 of them had at least one purebred parent from a supposedly extinct species that once lived at the other end of the archipelago. Researchers hope they can find these tortoises in the flesh on Isabela Island, breed them in captivity and then release them back onto Floreana Island, their native home.

It was like setting foot in a prehistoric scene, or perhaps, on another planet, says Times photographer Veronika Andrasovsky of her trip last December to Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. What she found in those Equatorial isles was surface-of-the-moon topography--fields of twisted lava that erupted from the sea 4 million years ago. She also found animal life so untainted that it still trusts humans. In short, a photographer's dream.

Rare giant tortoises on the largest of the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, which have narrowly escaped a huge fire, face a greater threat from hunters who have been killing them illegally, rescue workers said. The workers fighting the month-old blaze on Isabela Island said they have discovered the remains of at least 42 giant tortoises killed by locals who eat the flesh as a delicacy.

Extremely warm waters in the Pacific Ocean caused by El Nino are bleaching coral reefs in the Galapagos Islands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency used satellite data to identify Galapagos "hot spots": places where water temperatures were 3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the maximum temperatures expected.

The government declared a national emergency in the Galapagos Islands on Monday after an oil spill half a mile from shore continued to float into the archipelago, threatening some of the world's rarest sea animals and birds, officials said. "For us, this is the equivalent of an earthquake," said presidential spokesman Alfredo Negrete, explaining that the state of emergency would let the government immediately channel the funds needed for cleanup.

A giant tortoise species studied by Charles Darwin and believed to be extinct for more than 150 years may be alive and well, an ambitious genetic survey has revealed. Blood sampling of more than 1,600 tortoises on the largest Galapagos island, Isabela, has revealed that about 84 of them had at least one purebred parent from a supposedly extinct species that once lived at the other end of the archipelago. Researchers hope they can find these tortoises in the flesh on Isabela Island, breed them in captivity and then release them back onto Floreana Island, their native home.

The Galapagos Islands never go out of season. That's the pitch from Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, which has created "prime-season" rates available now through March on selected 10-day tours of Ecuador's famed islands, which are temperate year-round. The drawing card here is the unparalleled opportunity to see wildlife up close. You can snorkel with sea turtles, photograph blue-footed boobies on the beach and hike to highland forest trails during this tour of the islands made famous by Darwin's voyage on the Beagle.

During a trip to the Galapagos Island, Laguna Beach resident Nancee Wells visited a fish market and happened upon this scene. "After visiting the giant tortoise at the Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island, we were walking down the street and stopped at the fish market, where even the local animals were shopping!" she said. Located about 600 miles west of Ecuador, Santa Cruz Island is the second largest of the 15 major Galapagos Islands. For more on the Galapagos, check out "Evolution Runs Wild on Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

WORLD Presentation Author Irene Butler will give a digital presentation and reading from her book, "Trekking the Globe With (Mostly) Gentle Footsteps," an account of her journey across four continents with her husband, Rick. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 56 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. CANYONEERING Workshop Learn the art of canyoneering, including the history, tools and techniques.

Dorsal fins flashed Sunday as a large school of leopard sharks prowled the sandy shoals a few feet off Mother's Beach, on a prime stretch of Marina del Rey coastline. The estimated 50 to 60 skittish and docile sharks, some up to 5 feet long, arrived about a month ago, Los Angeles County officials said. Since then, the chance to get a close look at the sleek creatures — usually swimming in single file or in large circles, their tapered tails swishing gracefully back and forth — has made the beach a magnet for photographers and nature lovers.

Ecuador officials say a volcano is erupting in the Galapagos Islands and could harm unique wildlife. Galapagos National Park officials said La Cumbre volcano began spewing lava, gas and smoke on uninhabited Fernandina Island after four years of inactivity. They said the eruption is not a threat to people living on nearby Isabela Island. But lava flowing to the sea probably will affect marine and terrestrial iguanas, wolves and other fauna. The Galapagos are home to unique species that became the basis for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

A boat carrying fuel to Ecuador's Galapagos Islands that ran aground four days ago is leaking oil into the ecologically sensitive waters nearby, the government said Saturday. The spill has already affected wildlife including sea lions and pelicans, and volunteers are on standby to clean up and rescue them, an ecologist said. Adm.

If ever there was a land on the other side of the looking glass, this is it--a stark volcanic outpost in the Pacific where the ground is mostly rock and many animals seem to lack the instinct of fear. Here a person can still stare down a perching hawk, nearly eye to eye, walk a path through 100 dozing iguanas, or step within inches of nesting flightless cormorants. Few animals bother to budge.

Fisherman Luis Enrique Bonilla just wants to make a living. Galapagos Islands conservationists, worried that the marine reserve is overfished, want him to work in tourism. Bonilla and the local fishermen he represents say a move from commercial fishing to boat tours is an expensive and complex prospect for which they have no money or training. They have already made concessions to preserve marine species, each owning only one small boat and using simple lines and lures to catch fish by hand.