Sea Shepherd Science – Marine Biologist Jack Grove Commends Sea Shepherd’s Commitment to Preserving Galapagos Islands

Sea Shepherd Science – Marine Biologist Jack Grove Commends Sea Shepherd’s Commitment to Preserving Galapagos Islands

Marine Biologist Jack Grove There is no place in the world like the Galapagos Islands. There are more species endemic to this island group than to any other island in the world. The islands and their surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian Province, a national park and a biological marine reserve.

"The Galapagos is our line in the sand. If we can't save something as beautiful, as profoundly unique, as pristine as the Galapagos, we can't save anything," Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Founder Captain Paul Watson has said.

Since 2000, Sea Shepherd has been cooperating with the Ecuadorian National Park Service in the Galapagos Islands to protect its delicate ecosystem. Duties have included training and funding the wildlife unit K-9 program to detect contraband wildlife, patrolling the marine reserve to deter and apprehend poachers, educating schoolchildren on the need for conservation, and installing and maintaining AIS monitoring system.

Marine biologists have been falling in love with the uniqueness and beauty of the Galapagos Islands for decades. Marine biologist and professional naturalist, Jack Grove, called these islands home for seven years while carrying out extensive marine biological studies, leading up to the publication of his comprehensive volume, The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands by Stanford University Press in 1997. Now a member of Sea Shepherd’s Board of Advisors, Grove is speaking up about Sea Shepherd’s crucial role in safeguarding the islands.

“Sea Shepherd is supporting the Ecuadorian government’s need to enforce regulations to ensure violators are properly prosecuted. This is finally beginning to happen thanks to Sea Shepherd,” said Grove.

Due to overpopulation and an insatiable global demand for seafood, we are plundering the world’s oceans and depleting them of their natural resources at an alarming rate. As a result, species are becoming extinct every day, offsetting delicate ecosystems and affecting the survival of those that remain.

“The more species that are present, the more stable that ecosystem is. We need more sanctuaries and protected areas and we need organizations like Sea Shepherd to determine and observe what is happening in these vast areas of open ocean,” Grove explained.

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