{"id":611803,"date":"2026-09-10T13:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611803\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:30:14","slug":"a-stronger-than-normal-el-nino-alarms-scientists-over-galapagos-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/611803\/","title":{"rendered":"A stronger-than-normal El Nino alarms scientists over Gal\u00e1pagos wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

QUITO, Ecuador \u2014 The prediction that this season\u2019s El Nino phenomenon<\/a> will be stronger than normal has alarmed the Ecuadorian<\/a> scientific community, which has warned of its impact on the flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands,<\/a> home to the highest concentration of species not found elsewhere on Earth.<\/p>\n

The archipelago of more than 230 islands \u2014 of which only four are inhabited \u2014 is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off the coast of Ecuador.<\/p>\n

The climatic phenomenon occurs periodically and in the equatorial Pacific is characterized by an increase in sea temperature and intense rainfall. Its strength is determined by measuring the water temperature in that area and comparing it to the normal average. If it is 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above normal, it is considered \u201cvery strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sea temperature will be about 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F) above normal, according to the latest projection from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which means that \u201cthe impact will be significant,\u201d said Franklin Ormaza, a professor and researcher at the Faculty of Maritime Engineering and Marine Sciences of the Higher Polytechnic School of the Coast (ESPOL).<\/p>\n

Wildlife at risk<\/p>\n

Animals and fish will be at risk because as the water temperature rises, \u201cplankton, algae, and smaller fish species, which are food for larger marine animals, practically disappear,\u201d explained Washington Tapia, director of Biodiversa Ecuador, a conservation organization in the archipelago, to the AP.<\/p>\n

He specified that the species most at risk are the iconic Gal\u00e1pagos penguins, blue-footed boobies, petrels, flightless cormorants, albatrosses, and even sea lions. Coral colonies could also be seriously affected, as could tuna fishing.<\/p>\n

In the absence of food, \u201canimal colonies stop reproducing,\u201d disperse in search of food, and die of starvation in the process, explained scientist Gustavo Jim\u00e9nez, from the Charles Darwin Foundation.<\/p>\n

If the phenomenon occurs with the expected magnitude, the archipelago\u2019s vertebrate population could decrease by at least 20% this year, Jim\u00e9nez added.<\/p>\n

One of the most closely monitored species in the islands, the Gal\u00e1pagos penguins, serves as a marker of the impact of this climate phenomenon on the archipelago\u2019s fauna.<\/p>\n

According to data from the Charles Darwin Foundation, after the 1998 El Nino \u2014 one of the most powerful and destructive cycles \u2014 only 400 of the 1,300 existing Gal\u00e1pagos penguins remained.<\/p>\n

Effects on the flora<\/p>\n

If El Nino strikes with the expected force, the last three remaining Scalesia forests could be at risk of disappearing, scientist Heinke Jager of the Charles Darwin Foundation said.<\/p>\n

Opuntia cacti, which grow along the seashore, would also be threatened.<\/p>\n

These plants, found only in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, support various ecosystems of insects, birds and other smaller plants that are part of the archipelago\u2019s unique biodiversity.<\/p>\n

Jager explained that \u201cthese species need human support\u201d because the heavy rains brought by El Nino will cause the territory they occupy to be overrun by invasive plants, such as blackberries, which have shorter reproductive cycles.<\/p>\n

Therefore, they have organized a plan that includes the eradication of invasive plants, the collection of seeds and the creation of nurseries to conserve threatened species. The Ecuadorian government, foundations, and nongovernmental organizations working in the archipelago are participating in the program.<\/p>\n

The Gal\u00e1pagos Islands were declared a Natural World Heritage Site in 1978 for their unique animal and plant species, which served as the basis for the English scientist Charles Darwin to develop his theory of evolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QUITO, Ecuador \u2014 The prediction that this season\u2019s El Nino phenomenon will be stronger than normal has alarmed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-611803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}