A Chinese fishing fleet spans more than 300 miles and is visible from space and has difficulty navigating Charles Darwin’s ecological paradise.
The 325-strong flotilla, with ships the size of a football field, has landed in the oceans around the Galapagos Islands – where rich biodiversity offers unique insights into our planet.
Scientists are worried that the fleet is endangering endangered species, both by placing in the oceans and by throwing 25,000 plastic bottles overboard every day.
They say the boats, each hanging several million hooks, are targeting sharks that end up in expensive fines in markets throughout China and Hong Kong.
In 2017, officials from Ecuador, which owns the islands, intercepted one with 300 tons of cool shark fins on board.
(Image: Getty)
Last week, the population expressed their anger after they found a young shark that had been washed away on a beach with its dorsal fins burned off.
And a whale shark named Hoop who recently disappeared by his GPS tracker showed that it was the last place the float was.
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Esme Plunkett, 23, a British marine biologist based on the island of Santa Cruz, said: ‘I have never known such anger here.
“Locals have been devastated to see what these fleets are doing.”
Darwin visited the islands in 1835. Studying his unique species helped shape his theory of evolution.
Conservatives say at least 18 species, including sea lions, turtles and marine iguanas, have been found trapped in plastic bags or lines, as plastic wrapped.
Esme said: “In just 25 minutes, I found 45 Chinese-labeled bottles in the rocks next to the iguanas.
(Image: Global Fishing Watch)
(Image: Getty)
“Waste is not uncommon, but this was in good condition with the labels intact. They take hundreds of years to degrade.
“In two years, I have never seen plastic waste.”
It is understood that the ships, which claim to be catching squid, have now switched off their tracking devices to prevent them from checking.
(Image: Esme Plunkett)
(Image: Reuters)
Ecuador’s Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin said: “It’s a violation of the protocol, they do not want us to know what they are doing.”
Former Charles Darwin Foundation boss Arturo Izurieta, who grew up on the islands, says the danger is strong. He said: ‘I am afraid for our future if this continues.
‘It destroys the seas and the land. We have to stop it or there might not be any Galapagos left. “
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