Galapagos Islands Weather Ecuador

Climate update in Galápagos

This time of the year, Galápagos experiences a shift in oceanographic and therefore climate conditions. "Garúas" ( fine drizzle rain) are replaced by occasional showers. This year, however, the trade winds, and consequently the sea surface temperatures in the region are consistent with abnormal years known as El Niño (ENSO- El Niño Southern Oscillation).

Scientists are not in complete agreement of the strength of this event, but it does not seem to be of similar strength as the 1982/3 or 1997/8 years. Models seem to predict that the event will be at full strength until the beginning of 2010.

For Galápagos, sea temperature will be slightly higher than the historic mean; consequently, rains may also be more frequent. This is extremely good for land based species (finches are known to breed more often than regular years, for instance), and will be difficult for marine species (some will simply skip breeding attempts, like blue footed boobies). Snorkeling is benefited with comfy temperatures and generally crisp clear visibility conditions.

Visitors can expect enhanced precipitation, especially in some portions of Ecuador and Perú, and to some extent, Galápagos.

More details can be found at the Climate Prediction Centre:

http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf

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About the Galapagos Islands

The islands emerged about five million years ago, give or take a million, as a result of violent volcanic action. In geological terms, this should be considered a recent event.

As the young islands were cooling off, say, two million years later, some species gradually arrived. They were live organisms riding on "rafts of vegetation" from the shores of Central and South America. Unusual climatic events, like flooding, can take lots of vegetation rafts eventually to the ocean. Therefore, it is pure chance that allows a raft to eventually reach Galápagos. These early immigrants had to adapt to a peculiar new environment, and simply evolved -- slowly -- in a different direction from their continental ancestors. And, wonders of nature, they developed into species unique to the islands, with features not seen in their past ancestors.