Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing Human–Wildlife Conflicts and Benefits of Galápagos Sea Lions on San Cristobal Island, Galápagos

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover The Galapagos Marine Reserve

Abstract

Human–wildlife interactions shape perceptions and the conservation of wildlife populations. San Cristobal Island is the main fisheries port in the Galápagos archipelago and hosts one of the largest sea lion colonies. Local tourism and the population have grown drastically over the past decade and so does human impact on Galápagos sea lions. Here, we analyze human perceptions of the endemic and endangered Galápagos sea lion, using interviews and behavioral observations of sea lions’ responses to humans.

There is overall agreement that sea lions should be protected, but some fishers do not share this view nor are compliant with protection efforts. Direct anthropogenic impacts in the form of sea lion entanglements in fishing gear and debris (nylon, plastic), diseases, and fishers’ aggressions toward sea lions have substantially increased in the past 2 years. Sea lions are highly tolerant to human presence, but they flee when approached at distances closer than 4 m. Injuries and death of sea lions caused by humans increased dramatically over the last 5 years. To improve conservation, it is essential to investigate the dynamics and challenges of human–sea lion interactions on San Cristobal. Socioeconomic activities influence these perceptions, and possible reasons explaining the different attitudes toward these animals are shaped not only by economic interests but by the symbolic and political context in which these positions take form.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alava JJ, Salazar S (2006) Status and conservation of Otariids in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. In: Trites AW, Atkinson SK, DeMaster DP, Fritz LW, Gelatt TS, Rea LD, Wynne KM (eds) Sea lions of the world. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen SG, Ainley DG, Page G, Ribic CA (1984) The effect of disturbance on harbor seal haul out patterns at Bolinas Lagoon, California. Fish Bull 82:493–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Alverson DL (1991) Commercial fisheries and the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus): the conflict arena. Fisheries Research Institute, Seattle, Washington Report FRI-UW-9106. April 1991

    Google Scholar 

  • Aurioles D, Trillmich F (2008) Zalophus wollebaeki. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN red list of threatened species, 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann JP, Lackey CW (2008) Carnivores, urban landscapes and longitudinal studies: a case history study of black bears. Human-Wildlife Conflicts 2(2):168–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Bremner J, Perez J (2002) A case study of human migration and the sea cucumber crisis in the Galápagos Islands. Ambio 31(4):306–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Burbano D (2011) Shifting baselines in Artisan fisheries on the Galápagos Islands. Master thesis, University San Francisco de Quito

    Google Scholar 

  • Chavez FP, Strutton PG, Friedrich GE, Feely RA, Feldman GC, McPhadden MJ (1999) Biological and chemical response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to the 1997–1998 El Niño. Science 286:2126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Costa DP, Gales NJ (2003) Energetics of a benthic diver: seasonal foraging ecology of the Australian sea lion, Neophoca cinerea. Ecol Monogr 73(1):27–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Culik B (2004) Review of small cetaceans. Distribution, behaviour, migration and threats. Compiled for CMS. UNEP/CMS, Bonn, Germany, pp 343

    Google Scholar 

  • Descola P (1992) Societies of nature and the nature of society. In: Kuper A (ed) Conceptualizing society. Routledge, London, pp 107–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Distefano E (2008) Human-wildlife conflict worldwide: collection of case studies, analysis of management strategies and good practices. http://www.fao.org/sard/common/ecg/1357_en_HWC_final.pdf

  • Edgar GJ, Banks S, Fariña JM, Calvopiña M, Martínez C (2004) Regional biogeography of shallow reef fish and macro-invertebrate communities in the Galápagos archipelago. J Biogeogr 31:1107–1124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Errington F, Gewertz DB (2003) Tourism and anthropology in a post-modern world. Reprinted in Gmelch S (ed) Tourists and tourism. Waveland, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ezealor AU, Giles RH Jr (1997) Vertebrate pests of a Sahelian wetland agro-ecosystem: perceptions and attitudes of the indigenes and potential management strategies. Int J Pest Manage 43(2):97–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman GC (1985) Satellites, seabirds and seals. In: Robinson G, Del Pino EM (eds) El Niño in the Galápagos Islands: the 1982–1983 event. Charles Darwin Foundation, Quito, Ecuador, pp 125–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferber D (2000) Galápagos station survives latest attack by fishers. Science 290:2059–2061

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn PW (1988) El Niño Southern Oscillation 1982–1983: nearshore, population, community and ecosystem responses. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 19:309–345

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenier C (2007) Conservación Contra Natura. Abya Yala, Quito

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenier C (2010) The geographic opening of Galapagos In: Galapagos report 2009–2010. CDF, GNP, and Governing Council of Galapagos, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador

    Google Scholar 

  • Hearn K (2008) Dozens of sea lion found massacred in Galapagos. National Geographic News (February 4): 1–2. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080204-sea-lions_2.html

  • Hearn A (2008b) The rocky path to sustainable fisheries management and conservation in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Ocean Coast Manage 5:567–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hearn A, Murillo JC, Reyes H (2006) Evaluación de la pesquería de langosta espinosa (Panulirus penicillatus y P. gracilis) en la Reserva Marina de Galápagos 2005. Fundación Charles Darwin Puerto, Ayora

    Google Scholar 

  • Heylings P, Bravo M (2007) Evaluating governance: a process for understanding how co-management is functioning, and why, in the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Ocean Coast Manage 50:174–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt E (2001) Whale watching 2001: worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding socioeconomic benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, UK, 158 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hückstädt LA, Antezana T (2003) Behaviour of the southern sea lion (Otaria flavescens) and consumption of the catch during purse seining for jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus) off central Chile. ICES J Mar Sci 60:1003–1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson WM, Lavigne DM (1999) Mass tourism and the Mediterranean monk seal. The role of mass tourism in the decline and possible future extinction of Europe’s most endangered marine mammal, Monachus monachus. The Monachus Guardian 2:62–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerr S, Cardenas S, Hendy J (2004) Migration and the environment in the Galápagos: an analysis of economic and policy incentives driving migration, potential impacts from migration control, and potential policies to reduce migration pressure. Motu Working Paper 03–17. Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington, New Zealand

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkwood R, Boren L, Shaugnessy P, Szeren D, Mawson P, Huckstadt L, Hofmeyr G, Oosthuizen H, Schiavini A, Campagna C, Berris M (2003) Pinniped focused tourism in the Southern Hemisphere: a review of the industry. In: Gales N, Hindell M, Kirkwood R (eds) Marine mammals and tourism, Chap. 13. CSIRO, Collingwood, pp 257–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Labrada-Martagon V, Aurioles-Gamboa D, Martinez-Diaz SF (2005) Natural and human disturbance in a rookery of the California Sea lion (Zalophus californianus californianus) in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Latin Am J Aquat Mamm 4(2):175–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavigne D (2006) Marine mammals and fisheries: the role of science in the culling debate. Books Online 2006, pp 31–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Malik S, Wilson PJ, Smith RJ, Lavigne DM, White BN (1997) Pinniped penises in trade: a molecular-genetic investigation. Conserv Biol 11(6):1365–1374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullin M (1999) Mirrors and windows: sociocultural studies of human-animal relationships source. Annu Rev Anthropol 28:201–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murillo JC, Nicolaides F, Reyes H, Moreno J, Molin L, Chasiluisa C (2004) Estado pesquero y biológico de las dos especies de langosta espinosa en el año 2003: Análisis comparativo con las pesquerias 1997–2002. Parque Nacional Galápagos and Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols H (2006) Lonesome George: the life and loves of a conservation icon. Palgrave Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Orsini JP (2004) Human impacts on Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea, hauled out on Carnac Island (Perth, Western Australia): implications for wildlife and tourism management. Master thesis, School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Western Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Páez D (2008) Diversificación de dietas en tres colonias de lobo marino de Galápagos, Zalophus wollebaeki, evaluada con análisis de excretas e isótopos estables de C y N. Tesis de Maestría en Ciencias en la especialidad Manejo de Recursos Marinos. CICIMAR-IPN, La Paz, México, 115 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton MQ (2005) Qualitative research. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauly D, Watson R, Adler J (2005) Global trends in world fisheries: impacts on marine ecosystems and food security. Philos Trans R Soc B 360:5–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quiroga D (2009) Crafting nature: the Galapagos and the making and unmaking of a “natural laboratory”. J Polit Ecol 16:124–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Quiroga D (2012) Changing views of the Galapagos. In: Walsh SJ, Mena CF (eds) Science and conservation in the Galapagos Islands, frameworks and perspectives, Social and ecological interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Springer, New York, pp 23–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Read AJ (2008) The looming crisis: interactions between marine mammals and fisheries. J Mammal 89(3):451–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson WJ, Greene CR, MacMe CI, Thomson DH (1995) Marine mammals and noise. Academic, San Diego, CA, 576 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Riedmann M (1990) The Pinnipeds: seals, sea lions and walruses. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen DAS, Trites AW (2000) Pollock and the decline of Steller Sea Lions: testing the junk-food hypothesis. Can J Zool 78:1243–1258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sachs JP, Ladd N (2010) Climate and oceanography of the Galápagos in the 21st century: expected changes and research needs. Galapagos Res 67:50–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar SK (1999) Diet, population size and interaction with coastal waste of the Galápagos sea lion Zalophus californianus wollebaeki at the Galápagos Islands. Undergraduate thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, 98 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar S (2001) Auscultación y estudio de cadáveres de lobos marinos encontrados en “La Lobería” – Isla San Cristóbal. Informe Técnico. Estación Científica Charles Darwin, Departamento de Investigación y Conservación Marina, Santa Cruz, Galápagos, Ecuador, 5 pp (In Spanish)

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar SK, Bustamante R (2003) The El Niño 1997–98 effects on the Galápagos sea lion. Noticias de Galápagos 62:40–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar SK, Denkinger J (2010) Possible effects of climate change on the populations of Galapagos pinnipeds and suggested management measures. Galápagos Res 67:45–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Salazar S, Edgar G (2001) Galápagos sea lion massacre. Mar Pollut Bull 42:705

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sekhar NU (2003) Local people’s attitudes towards conservation and wildlife tourism around Sariska Tiger Reserve, India. J Environ Manage 69(4):339–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd SA, Martinez P, Toral-Granda MV, Edgar GJ (2004) The Galapagos sea cucumber fishery: management improves as stocks decline. Environ Conserv 31(2):102–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone R (1995) Fishermen threaten Galápagos. Science 267:611–612

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Suryan RM, Harvey JT (1999) Variability in reactions of Pacific harbour seals, Phoca vitulina richardsi, to disturbance. Fish Bull 97:332–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton C, Quinn MS (2009) Coexisting with cougars: public perceptions, attitudes, and awareness of cougars on the urban–rural fringe of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Human-Wildlife Conflicts 3(2):282–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermann A, Oberhuber J, Bacher A, Esch M, Latif M, Roeckner E (1999) Increased El Niño frequency on a climate model forced by future greenhouse warming. Nature 398:694–697

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toral-Granda V (2005) Requiem for the Galápagos sea cucumber fishery? SPC Beche-de-mer Inf Bull 21:5–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F (1984) The natural history of the Galápagos fur seal Arctocephalus galapagoensis, Heller. In: Perry R (ed) Key environments: Galápagos. Pergamon, Oxford, pp 215–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F, Dellinger T (1991) The effects of El Niño on Galápagos pinnipeds. In: Trillmich F, Ono KA (eds) The ecological effects of El Niño on Otariids and Phocids: responses of marine mammals to environmental stress. Springer, Berlin, pp 66–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F, Limberger D (1985) Drastic effects of El Niño on Galápagos Pinnipeds. Oecologia 67:19–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F, Wolf JBW (2008) Parent–offspring and sibling conflict in Galápagos fur seals and sea lions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62:363–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trites AW, Donnelly CP (2003) The decline of Steller sea lions in Alaska: a review of the nutritional stress hypothesis. Mamm Rev 33:3–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villacis B, Carrillo D (2013) The Socioeconomic paradox of the Galapagos. In: Walsh SJ, Mena CF (eds) Science and conservation in the Galapagos Islands, frameworks and perspectives, Social and ecological interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Springer, New York, pp 69–85

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walpole MJ, Goodwin HJ (2001) Local attitudes toards conservation and tourism around Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Environ Conserv 28:160–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang SW, Curtis PD, Lassoie JP (2006) Farmer perceptions of crop damage by wildlife in Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, Bhutan. Wildl Soc Bull 34(2):359–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins G, Cruz F (2007) Galápagos en riesgo: Un análisis socioeconómico de la situación actual en el archipiélago. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos

    Google Scholar 

  • West P, Carrier J (2004) Ecotourism and authenticity: getting away from it. Curr Anthropol 45(4):483–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf JBW, Kauermann G, Trillmich F (2005) Males in the shade: habitat use and sexual segregation in the Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus californianus wollebaeki). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 59:293–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf JBW, Tautz D, Trillmich F (2007) Galapagos and Californian sea lions are separate species: genetic analysis of the genus Zalophus and its implications for conservation management. Front Zool 4(1):20

    Article  Google Scholar 

Online References

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to the local population of San Cristobal Island for their support in the surveys, to Cristina Gomez for her fieldwork, and the Galápagos National Park for access to data on dead or injured sea lions. Special thanks go to Park Ranger Jorge Torres and others for their support with necropsies and animal handling and to Katie Kaplan and Catherine Jones for editing and helpful comments. This research was financed by GAIAS research grants and carried out with the research permit (PC-18-10, PC-27-11, and PC-24-12).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Galapagos Science Center, University San Francisco de Quito, Campus Cumbaya, Quito, Ecuador

    Judith Denkinger

  2. Galapagos Science Center, University San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador

    Diego Quiroga

  3. Universidad Estatal de la Península de Santa Elena, La Libertad, Santa Elena, Ecuador

    Juan Carlos Murillo

Authors
  1. Judith Denkinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Diego Quiroga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Juan Carlos Murillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith Denkinger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador

    Judith Denkinger

  2. Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador

    Luis Vinueza

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Denkinger, J., Quiroga, D., Murillo, J.C. (2014). Assessing Human–Wildlife Conflicts and Benefits of Galápagos Sea Lions on San Cristobal Island, Galápagos. In: Denkinger, J., Vinueza, L. (eds) The Galapagos Marine Reserve. Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02769-2_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation