5th Hour - Humans Threaten Galapagos Islands

Watch National Geographic's "Humans Threatening Galapagos", located at http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/culture-places-news/galapagos-invasive-wcvin.html . Reflect on the video and answer ONE of the following questions. In addition to your posted reflection, respond to the postings of TWO of your classmates.

1. In your opinion, which of the following is more important:
A. protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may
not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands
B. protecting the rights of individuals to visit & learn about the wildlife on the
Galapagos Islands, even though some species may go extinct as a result
Defend your selection.

2. What is biodiversity? Why is it important to our world? How does the impact of humans on the Galapagos Islands threaten the world's biodiversity? Short of banning human visitors from the Galapagos Islands, what initiatives can we take to protect the animals on these islands?

Initial Posting: Due Thursday, October 6 at 11:59 pm
Response Postings: Due Sunday, October 9 at 11:59 pm.

I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

I think protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because they are living just like us, and they were here first. So it's like are taking over somethings they already had, and we aren't treating this places right. Nor are we helping/keeping the animals living arrangement clean, and a graet places for them to live in. I think all this human activity that we are doing, is messing up the earth.

Ben Johnson wrote:I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

I agree with you, because we are they reason why the earth looks like this. Also we are the reason everything is happening here on this planet. I also would really like to go visit a island, but only when its pretty and things are not every where.

i don't like the whole idea of evolution or this being proof of it. its sad that the oil affected 60% of the iguannas. it's a good thing they are starting to try and help the animals by going green tho.

in my opinion A. protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because the life of something is far more important then if someone gets to see an animal. there is no reason that outweighs the life of something. humans have done enough damage and we dont need to stick our nose in places they dont belong just to learn about something that we are killing by doing so.

Azia Aldridge wrote:I think protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because they are living just like us, and they were here first. So it's like are taking over somethings they already had, and we aren't treating this places right. Nor are we helping/keeping the animals living arrangement clean, and a graet places for them to live in. I think all this human activity that we are doing, is messing up the earth.

i agree with you that they were there first but to us that usually doesnt matter, americans taking over the native americans land is an example. i also agree that we arnt treating the place right or helping at all.

I believe we should protect the animals first. Since people came to the islands, they started to die, so obviously the animals there can't handle new things/people coming into their environment. They're not like humans, they can't just adapt. I personally believe that humans should just back off from the islands, but unfortunately, that's most likely not going to happen. Either the people don't care, or they do care but don't know what to do about it. Organizations like WWF should educate people about the possible effects of what they're actions do and how to help, and then hopefully both sides get what they want/deserve.

DanManzella wrote:i don't like the whole idea of evolution or this being proof of it. its sad that the oil affected 60% of the iguannas. it's a good thing they are starting to try and help the animals by going green tho.

in my opinion A. protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because the life of something is far more important then if someone gets to see an animal. there is no reason that outweighs the life of something. humans have done enough damage and we dont need to stick our nose in places they dont belong just to learn about something that we are killing by doing so.

I really like your reply. I'm not that fond of evolution either but that doesn't change the fact there are unique animals. I liked that you mentioned that its important to preserve the life instead of having other people seeing it. It's like they're trying to treat the islands as a zoo. Only difference is that zoos try to save the animals, seems like all the tourists are doing are killing them.

ssaraheadess wrote:I believe we should protect the animals first. Since people came to the islands, they started to die, so obviously the animals there can't handle new things/people coming into their environment. They're not like humans, they can't just adapt. I personally believe that humans should just back off from the islands, but unfortunately, that's most likely not going to happen. Either the people don't care, or they do care but don't know what to do about it. Organizations like WWF should educate people about the possible effects of what they're actions do and how to help, and then hopefully both sides get what they want/deserve.

i agree with you that animals should be protected first and humans should back off but your response made me an idea come to mind that didnt occur to me earlier, if animals evolved so that they could live there once already because of "evolution", then why cant they do it again? if they were able to evolve fast enough to live there already because of that evolution theory, then this should be an easier task than being able to with stand volcanoes. my idea may seem far fetched or unreasonable but im not willing to accept the idea of evolution

Protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands of course is the most important thing to focus on! If you want to learn more about animals its called research via internet or book. I understand that it could be more helpful if you could see these species up close and personal in their own habitats. But you also have to think what if these species goes instinct throws off an ecosystem that could some how affect us?

ssaraheadess wrote:I believe we should protect the animals first. Since people came to the islands, they started to die, so obviously the animals there can't handle new things/people coming into their environment. They're not like humans, they can't just adapt. I personally believe that humans should just back off from the islands, but unfortunately, that's most likely not going to happen. Either the people don't care, or they do care but don't know what to do about it. Organizations like WWF should educate people about the possible effects of what they're actions do and how to help, and then hopefully both sides get what they want/deserve.

That is true but our "ancestors" did not expect anything like extinction to happen...some people do actually take the time to worship nature and animals more than what we give them credit for. We cant change were people decided to settle..

Ben Johnson wrote:I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

There's always google and bing if they need to do research! I completely agree with you

Ben Johnson wrote:I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

Sounds like a smart plane lets just kick people out of there homes wait a few years then we will let then back. what they are doing is fine now in my opinion. They just need to be more cautious about there ways with trash and other resources
.

Im sorta for both its wrong to kill these animals and watch here ecosystem be destroyed. but alot of these people seem like there interested and want to learn something about evolution or these unknown species. i believe its wrong to totally pollute an area and mistreat it but if they are careful about how they live on the islansds than it wont matter in the end

Azia Aldridge wrote:I think protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because they are living just like us, and they were here first. So it's like are taking over somethings they already had, and we aren't treating this places right. Nor are we helping/keeping the animals living arrangement clean, and a graet places for them to live in. I think all this human activity that we are doing, is messing up the earth.

I think your right about somethings but us humans are curious about the earth and we dont neccesarily have a right to find out about this stuff but were not going to stop researching it and visiting it. The people just need to be more careful about what they do to the island and think about how it will effect it.

BriannaMoore wrote:

ssaraheadess wrote:I believe we should protect the animals first. Since people came to the islands, they started to die, so obviously the animals there can't handle new things/people coming into their environment. They're not like humans, they can't just adapt. I personally believe that humans should just back off from the islands, but unfortunately, that's most likely not going to happen. Either the people don't care, or they do care but don't know what to do about it. Organizations like WWF should educate people about the possible effects of what they're actions do and how to help, and then hopefully both sides get what they want/deserve.

That is true but our "ancestors" did not expect anything like extinction to happen...some people do actually take the time to worship nature and animals more than what we give them credit for. We cant change were people decided to settle..

I'm not saying that people were expecting extinction to happen, and I am aware that there are people that care about the animals. I applaud those people that do. I'm saying that since there are showing signs that those animals are affected directly by the humans on the island, maybe they should be a little respectful of that and back off. If it was my choice, everywhere would be like that, everyone caring and taking responsibility for their actions, so no animals ever get to the point where they could be extinct. But being realistic, it's not going to happen unless major changes happen. Just look at Americans, we've destroyed cultures and millions of acres of land just to build cities, factories, and "money", and a lot of the people didn't give a crap about their actions. It is true that we can't change where people settle, but we can try to reduce their impact.

I think that protecting endangerd and threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit and learn about the wild life in the Galapagos Islands is important. Even though we dont come in contact with the animals here, they still impact Earth. I also think that the people that live on the islands now should be more cautious about their actions. I like the fact that people are trying to encourage new fuel efficent boats and cars.

Ben Johnson wrote:I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

I agree with what you said. If we protect the endangers and threatened species, then maybe feature generations can go back and learn about the animals and the population wouldnt be affected by humans.

Azia Aldridge wrote:I think protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because they are living just like us, and they were here first. So it's like are taking over somethings they already had, and we aren't treating this places right. Nor are we helping/keeping the animals living arrangement clean, and a graet places for them to live in. I think all this human activity that we are doing, is messing up the earth.

I agree with what you said. If humans leave the islands, then the animal population will go up because there wouldnt be any pollution.

Biodiversity is diversity within plants and animals in an environment which is important to have a variation of species as well as make sure an area isn't over populated with a certain species. The impact of humans in the Galapagos threatens the world's diversity because the humans are not only threating the lives of many species which live on a island full of some of the largest amounts of diverse species in the world but also affect the world because species becoming extinct in one area affect that species population as a whole. We can protect these animals by controlling the amount of pollution humans bring to the island, use more conservative products.

Azia Aldridge wrote:I think protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because they are living just like us, and they were here first. So it's like are taking over somethings they already had, and we aren't treating this places right. Nor are we helping/keeping the animals living arrangement clean, and a graet places for them to live in. I think all this human activity that we are doing, is messing up the earth.

I agree because the animals were already living in the Galapagos long before humans and humans are basically taking over and destroying what was already there by bringing their pollution to the area and killing the animals.

It is obviously far more important to protect an endangered species than it is to see one or learn about one in its presence. If people weren't so selfish or didn't have such skewed ideas of what is truly important, it would be blatently obvious what the right thing is. Humans aren't the only animals in the world.

KristinaRider wrote:I think that protecting endangerd and threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit and learn about the wild life in the Galapagos Islands is important. Even though we dont come in contact with the animals here, they still impact Earth. I also think that the people that live on the islands now should be more cautious about their actions. I like the fact that people are trying to encourage new fuel efficent boats and cars.

I agree with this because I think that humans began to realize how bad of an impact they are having on the lives of the animals there and should continue to encourage things that will help reduce the amounts of pollution spread.

I think that it is more important to preserve the islands and not let people visit them. I think that the animals should be left alone so that they do not go extinct. the wildlife at the islands are very unique and should be kept as safe as possible.

Ben Johnson wrote:I believe protecting endangered & threatened species from extinction even if some people may not be able to visit & learn about the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands is more important because, even if we cannot visit or learn about the species, if we continue what we are doing, no one will ever be able to visit them because they will be extinct. If we leave them alone, or help treat the species and help them grow, them maybe people can eventually go back to visiting the islands, but until then protect the islands.

i agree with what you said because if we dont stop the pollution on the islands the environment will be destroyed and the animals will become extinct