Donation Made in Memory of Last Grandchild of Ecuador's First President. Deaths of CDF Board Members. Major Gift by Mrs. Louise Van Straelen-Poirier. Itasca to Galápagos. Station Research Vessel

Evans, Daniel

MacFarland, Craig

English

Aquatic Commons

2 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No. 50
NEWS FROM ACADEMY BAY
Donation Made in Memory ofLast Grandchild
of Ecuador's First President.-General Juan José
Flores, the First President of Ecuador, established
Ecuadorian sovereignty over the Galápagos Islands
in 1832. The Island of Floreana was narned for him.
A generous donation has been received from Mr.
Marcello De Giorgis in memory of his mother, Ama-
lía Flores De Giorgis, who died in the spring of 1990
in Rome at the age of 94. She was the last living
grandchild of General Flores. Although she never
visited Galápagos, Mrs. Flores De Giorgis followed
with great interest her son' s descriptions of Isla Flo-
reana.
The donation will be used by the CDRS and
Galápagos National Park Service to support the pro-
grarn for protection of the endangered Dark-rumped
Petrel on Floreana. Craig MacFarland, 836 Ma-
belle, Moscow, Idaho 83843, USA.
Deaths of CDF Board Members.-The world
conservation movement and the Galápagos Islands
lost two avid supporters with the deaths in August
1989 of Sir Peter Scott and in December 1990 ofDr.
Kai Curry-Lindhal.
Sir Peter Scott was an intemationally acclaimed
artist and naturalíst. He was founderofthe Wildfowl
Trust in Great Britain, a founder of the World Wild-
life Fund Intemational (now known as the World Wide
Fund for Nature) of which he was Chairman and also
of its British National Appeal, and for 15years Chair-
man of the Fauna Preservation Society in the United
Kingdom. He was a tireless exponent, traveler, and
worker for intemational conservation efforts and a
member of the Charles Darwin Foundation Execu-
tive Council for many years. He visited the Islands
numerous times, especially in the 1970s, and was
instrumental in helping to raise considerable funds
forconservation of the Galápagos via WWF- Intema-
tional.
Dr. Kai Curry-Lindhal, of Sweden, was an active
member of the CDF Executive Council, especially
during the early formative years of the Foundation.
More recently, he worked for many years as a key
professional at the United Nations Environmental
Prograrnme at its headquarters in Nairobi, as well as
being involved in international conservation activi-
ties for several decades through participation in many
organizations.
They will be sorely missed by the international
conservation community, but the many young peo-
pIe they helped inspire will certainly continue the
work which they were so instrumental in starting and
nurturing. Craig MacFarland.
Major Gift by Mrs. Louise Van Straelen-
Poirier.-Mrs. VanStraelen, whosad1ypassedaway
in early 1990, has donated via her last will 5 million
BelgianFrancs (= US $140,(00) to the Charles Darwin
Foundation. Her will specifies the contribution to be
"for conservation and science in the Galápagos
Islands," and that it is "in remembrance ofDr. Victor
Emile Van Straelen, Founder and First President of
the Charles Darwin Foundation."
Thedonation was made via WWF- Belgium, which
is in the process of transferring the funds to the Galápa-
gos Darwin Trust-Europe, based in Luxembourg.
Three years ago Mrs. Van Straelen donated over
US $200,000 for Galápagos conservation and sci-
ence through the World Wide Fund for Nature. This
gift formed the core of the major debt swap arrange-
ment between that organization, the Government of
Ecuador, Fundación Natura (Ecuador), and the CDF.
Once again the CDF has benefited enormously
from the dedication and generosity of Dr. and Mrs.
Van Straelen, who will be remembered forever for
their pioneering efforts on behalf of the Islands and
the Foundation. Craig MacFarland.
ltasca to Galápagos.-Galápagos gained new
friends and renewed old acquaintances as a result of
a visit by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Daugherty of Omaba,
Nebraska, USA, and by guests aboard theirshipltas-
ea in March 1989. The group included Mr. and Mrs.
Allen Jacobson and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Hubbard.
Generous donations from Mr. Jacobson, ChiefExec-
utive Officer of 3M Company, and Mr. Hubbard,
President ofHubbard Broadcasting, helped purchase
a fiberglass patrol boat for the Galápagos National
Park Service. The 3M Company also made a large
donation of their products for environmental educa-
tion prograrns in the Islands.
Mr. Daugherty, President of Valmont Industries,
1991 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 3
provided a large boost to the research and conserva-
tionprograms ofthe Stationbydonatingsix computers
with printers and battery backup units to the Smith-
sonian Institution for use in the Galápagos. This
equipment brought the Station firm1y into the com-
puter age strengthening science and student training
programs. The equipment is particularly applicable
to the development of the biostatistics course to be
taught periodically at the Station and in the establish-
ment of a better data base for environmental
monitoring.
TheCharlesDarwin Research Station and Galápa-
gos National Park Service are grateful to Messrs.
Daugherty, Jacobson, and Hubbard for their gener-
ous support of conservation in the Galápagos. Their
donations provided basic tools and resources needed
for essential work. Daniel Evans, Charles Darwin
Research Station, Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos,
Ecuador.
Station Research Vessel.-On 3 October 1990,
the Charles Darwin Foundation acquired a new re-
search vessel for the CDRS. The ship is a 42-ft
fiberglass fishing vessel with a 20-ton capacity. It
was built in Norway in 1978 and imported to Ecuador
in 1979. The current sleeping capacity is for only
four people; however, the cabin will be expanded to
allow the ship to sleep at least eight. It is expected
that the ship will operate at a speed of 9-10 knots,
with a cruising range of over 1,000 miles. Due to its
speed, size, cost, ample deck space, and range, this
ship is ideally suited to fulfill the needs of the Station.
It was decided to retain the name Beagle, without
using a number.
The ship was found in Manta by Godfrey Merlen,
who will be in charge of directing the necessary re-
fitting prior to bringing the vessel to the Galápagos.
Godfrey's assistance and knowledge have been in-
valuable in obtaining a suitable ship. Daniel Evans.
ERYTHRINA VELUTINA AND THE COLONIZATION
OF REMOTE ISLANDS
By: Peter Grant, K. Thalia Grant, and B. Rosemary Grant
Erythrina velutina is a familiar tree at middle el-
evations on the south side ofIsla Santa Cruz. Unlike
most Galápagos trees it flowers when leafless in the
dry season. The flowers are large, showy, red, and
tubular, and are apparently adapted forpollination by
long-tongued animals like hummingbirds (Faegri and
vanderPijlI971); yethummingbirdshaveneverbeen
on the Galápagos as far as anyone knows.
Itcame as a surprise to us in April1978 to find half
a dozen large trees of this species on Isla Wolf. The
Island is not very high: the maximum elevation is 253
m (Wiggins and Porter 1971). It is also remote. How
did they get there? In November 1978 we had a
further surprise in discovering one single tree on the
west side of Isla Genovesa, probabl y no more than 20
m above sea level but an estimated 400 m inland.
How did it arrive there?
Judging by the amount of colorful plastic to be
found on uninhabited Genovesa and by the habit of
Red-footed Boobies and frigate birds of carrying
pieces of vegetation while flying around the coast,
we might surmise that the bright red seeds (beans) of
Erythrina have been picked up from the sea or the
shores on which they have been washed and dropped
on the Island. Or a landbird, such as a dove or a
mockingbird, might have picked up a seed from the
beach and taken it inland before discarding it. Either
way the seeds would have to float in seawater for
several days to reach remote islands like Genovesa,
Wolf, as well as Darwin (Wiggins and Porter 1971).
To test this idea we placed 30 seeds in ajar of
seawater on Genovesa, stirred the water whenever
we were back in camp, and recorded how many float-
ed and how many sank. Four immediately sank, and
in the next 72 hours five more did. Thus, after 3 days,
21 of the original 30 seeds were still afloat. Three
days travel at sea undernatural conditions would have
carried them an unknown distance from their island
of origino If they travelled in the range of 1-5 m per
minute they would be displaced somewhere between
4.5 and 22.0 km in that time.
Theexperiment was carried out in November 1978.


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