The reconciliation of Marine Ecosystem Management goals and offshore drilling and transportation of oil is a perennially sticky problem. On January 17, 2001, the tanker Jessica ran aground on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos. The 3 million liters of diesel and bunker oil that leaked from the wreck seemed a relatively innocuous spill at the time, but within months it killed over 60 percent of the Marine Iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) on nearby Santa Fe Island, justifying relisting the subspecies A. c. mertensi as endangered. It is believed that even low oil concentrations in the coastal waters were sufficient to kill fermentation bacteria in the lizards' gut, rendering them unable to digest the algae upon which they subsist. On another front, all Galapagos Marine Iguana populations are susceptible to ongoing predation by human-introduced feral cats and dogs.
The artist noted: While visiting the Galapagos, a pleasant past-time for me was observing Marine Iguanas and the many dainty finches, like the Small Ground Finch (Geospiza fuliginosa) shown here, hopping about these gruff-seeming lizards taking ticks and mites from their skin. These reptiles are the only modern sea-going lizards. They feed almost entirely on algae, the larger, stronger males by diving once a day, and smaller females and juveniles by feeding on exposed reefs close to shore.
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