Galapagos Diving Severely Reduced

[Guyburger]

My wife and I are booked on a seven day dive trip aboard the Big Blue Yacht from 17-24 September. On Friday we received information from the travel broker that the Director of the <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Galapagos</st1:PlaceName> <st1:Place w:st="on">National Park</st1lace></st1lace> had decreed on 10 July that 90% of the Galapagos liveaboard dive boats were no longer allowed to operate. I understand that people who were there to dive that week just got blindsided and were not allowed to board there boats. If you have a trip booked to Galapagos be aware it may be in jeopardy. The only boats being allowed to continue there planned itineraries are the two Aggressor boats and the Peter Hughes Sky Dancer. According to Ken those three boats are owned by rich influential people on the Ecuadorian mainland. What a surprise.
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Following is the email we got from Ken Weemhoff Pres. Galapagos Adventures, Inc., he's the broker handling our trip in September.


To all diver operators that have charters booked on the Deep Blue from Sept to December 2007


As many of you have heard, on Tuesday, July 10, the director of the <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Galapagos</st1:PlaceName> <st1:Place w:st="on">National Park</st1lace></st1lace> cancelled the majority of the dive trips in Galapagos. This decision took effect immediately and is going to effect countless divers worldwide who are booked on numerous yachts including some people who are already in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region>.


But before you go into a complete panic, let me fill you in on some stuff. First and foremost on your mind - the money you sent to me is safe. Your trip is far enough out that the only money that was sent to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region> on your behalf was your initial deposit of $2000. The rest of your money is sitting safely in my business account here in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">US</st1lace></st1:country-region>. Therefore you do not need to worry about losing your money. As you can probably imagine, this whole thing is creating a very explosive situation in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region>. The pressure is already beginning to heat up on the Ecuadorian politicians as the people of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region> are starting to realize the economic consequences of this decision. It is my understanding that the Ecuadorian press has already jumped on this story and the there is a growing discontent in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region> with the director of the national park. I expect very soon the international press will get word of this and then the pressure will really be increased. The yacht owners have banned together and have collectively hired an attorney who is filing a lawsuit against the national park. The local


Galapagos politicians are also involved with this issue and they have requested a meeting with the President of Ecuador for the yacht owners. Unfortunately President Correa is currently in Europe but I was just informed a few minutes ago that a meeting with the vice president of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region> has been granted for next Tuesday. It is my personal belief that the director of the national park will probably lose her job over this decision as she rightly should but only time will tell. In my option, the sooner this happens, the better. Therefore it is my opinion that as long as we – and the word "we" includes EVERYONE involved with this issue including you – do not take this situation lying down, this decision will be overturned shortly


I highly recommend that you inform your clients of this situation so they are aware of it BUT they should be told not to panic. There is plenty of time for this decision to be reversed before your departure date. Instead they should be advised to take a wait and see attitude. This situation is very new and the effects of it have not been felt in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region> yet. We all need to give things a little time to see where they go before making any decisions.


I have requested the email address of numerous government officials in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Ecuador</st1lace></st1:country-region>. I was just informed that I will be provided with this information. If things do not improve, I will distribute these emails to all of you as well as to all of my individual clients and request that we flood these people with complaints.


I’m sure that you may want to call me to discuss this but please understand that everything that I know about this situation is in this letter. I have no additional information at this time.


As you can only imagine, I am being swamped with calls and emails - many from people who are not even my clients. I understand that everyone wants to know what is going on but these calls and emails are taking a <st1lace w:st="on">LOT</st1lace> of my time away from dealing with these issues. Therefore I request that you give me at least a week before calling me or sending me emails. I will keep everyone informed as things progress via mass emails like this one. Ken

[tx.lakerat]

Thanks for the heads up on this!

[aramisun]

The may berationale behind her decision.
<DIV>"The tourism industry is literally loving the islands to death with tourism numbers increased by 150% over the last 15 years. More tourists mean more tourist vessels, more imports of food and fuel, more workers, more machinery, more cars, and more technology. The harbors are now full of ships and vessels unloading cement, construction equipment, and supplies. There is even one ship that transports only beer to the islands on a regular weekly run from the mainland.</DIV>
All of this means more garbage in the landfills and more garbage washed up on the once pristine beaches.


Fishermen still bully their way on the islands to get what they want, ignoring the conservation regulations and quotas. Democracy is also the enemy of the islands with the majority of the population having a vested interest in electing politicians who support more exploitation and less regulation.


Fanny Uribe, a senator from the Galapagos and the darling of the fishermen was quoted as saying, “There is only one endangered species in the Galapagos and that is the human species.”


She is constantly berating environmentalists for being more concerned with protecting iguanas and sharks than in protecting humans, failing to understand that if the ecosystem collapses so too does the foundation of all employment in the islands." *
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<DIV>*http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070629_1.html</DIV>

[Bill22]

Originally Posted by aramisun

The may berationale behind her decision.
"The tourism industry is literally loving the islands to death with tourism numbers increased by 150% over the last 15 years. More tourists mean more tourist vessels, more imports of food and fuel, more workers, more machinery, more cars, and more technology. The harbors are now full of ships and vessels unloading cement, construction equipment, and supplies. There is even one ship that transports only beer to the islands on a regular weekly run from the mainland.

All of this means more garbage in the landfills and more garbage washed up on the once pristine beaches.

Fishermen still bully their way on the islands to get what they want, ignoring the conservation regulations and quotas. Democracy is also the enemy of the islands with the majority of the population having a vested interest in electing politicians who support more exploitation and less regulation.

Fanny Uribe, a senator from the Galapagos and the darling of the fishermen was quoted as saying, “There is only one endangered species in the Galapagos and that is the human species.” She is constantly berating environmentalists for being more concerned with protecting iguanas and sharks than in protecting humans, failing to understand that if the ecosystem collapses so too does the foundation of all employment in the islands."
http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070629_1.html
http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070629_1.html

No arguments that something should be done about the situation there.... I don't think anyone would argue against reasonable restrictions being put in place. The discussion will always be about how to define "reasonable". To cut it to only three boats seems a little much given the area covered. There should be something done about the problems in the Galapagos. But there should also be reasonable notice given to people. People shouldn't have thousands of dollars tied up in deposits and then told that they're not going to be allowed to make their trip. Can't blame them for being upset. I would be upset too. Hopefully they will come up with something better, but I doubt they will ever find anything that will make "everyone" happy. Have you been diving in the Galapagos yet? It's on my list, but there are so many places on my "list", I don't know if I will ever make it there :-)

[Travelnsj]

I read on SB about a month ago a group of Czech divers were getting ready to leave for the Galapagos after the decision came down and they were paid in full....the Operators e-mail and phone disconnected...they were pleading for any info...sad that the goverment took action with giving out notification leaving people stranded.

I have been to the Galapagos in Dec 04...the Marine like was on Vacation! and the water was friggin cold!...go to the Cocos...Palau...Fakarava...Rangiora...Indonesia... .many on my list before I would go back!

[Bill22]

Originally Posted by Travelnsj

I read on SB about a month ago a group of Czech divers were getting ready to leave for the Galapagos after the decision came down they were paid in full....the Operators e-mail and phone disconnected...they were pleading for any info...sad that the goverment took action with giving
notification leaving people stranded.

I have been to the Galapagos in Dec 04...the Marine like was on Vacation! and the water was friggin cold!...go to the Cocos...Palau...Fakarava...Rangiora...Indonesia... .many on my list before I would go back!

Ahh... Thanks for that info... Galapagos just dropped much further down my list... I may NEVER make it there now ;-) My small contribution to improving conditions there for everyone else.... one less tourist ;-)

Actually the more I read about the situation the more apparent it became that something needed to be done. The sudden suspension though may have more to do with the UN. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was determined to be threatened they were ORDERED to do something immediately about the situation.

Personally had I been Ecuador I would have told the UN to go take a hike and handled it in a more reasonable manner. They need to curtail things but not in such a way that they are screwing people out of their money. A gradual reduction would have been much more reasonable. It should not be forgotten that the park itself is supported by tourist dollars. Shooting themselves in the foot doesn't seem like a very good way to handle it.

[georoc01]

My latest update from an LDS that runs two trips a year to Galapagos. That Peter Hughes and Agressors do have all of their permits in order and are running as normal going forward into 08 and 09.

But that they anticipate as the number of operators are reduced that prices are going to spike significantly going forward.

[Charlotte Smith]

There are plenty of other places to dive until they get this all in check....just glad I wasn't planning a vacation there....hate it for the divers who DID have plans to go there.

[Bill22]

Originally Posted by georoc01

My latest update from an LDS that runs two trips a year to Galapagos. That Peter Hughes and Agressors do have all of their permits in order and are running as normal going forward into 08 and 09.

But that they anticipate as the number of operators are reduced that prices are going to spike significantly going forward.

ahh... well at least people who really want to go will still be able to go "if they can afford it". I guess I'm cheap. I'll most likely never go to Galapagos now. To bad because it really was on my top ten list before. Thanks for the update.

[Travelnsj]

Originally Posted by Bill22

ahh... well at least people who really want to go will still be able to go "if they can afford it". I guess I'm cheap. I'll most likely never go to Galapagos now. To bad because it really was on my top ten list before. Thanks for the update.

Based on my trip.....you are not missing much!.....go to Palau, Indonesia, Christmas Island, Rangiora....many many places to go before the Galapagos Islands.