BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020

MONTYHALLSisa marinebiologist, presenter

and president of the Galapagos Conservation

Trust. He visited the archipelago to film My Family

and the Galapagos (catch up on All 4).

Inourseriesaboutpeoplewithapassionforaspecies,weask

TVpresenterMontyHallswhyheadmiresthemarineiguana.

MONTY HALLS

Whyhaveyouchosenthe

marineiguana?

Thoughit’saniconicanimal,belovedof

everytouristwhovisitstheGalápagos,

it’salsorathermisunderstood.When

CharlesDarwinfirstsawmarine

iguanasin1835,hedescribedthemas

“disgusting,clumsylizards”and“imps

ofdarkness”.Butwenowknowtheyare

greatsurvivors,miraclesofevolutionary

adaptationandtrulyuniquereptiles.

Whatmakesthemunique?

EndemictotheGalápagosIslands,

marineiguanasaretheonlylizards

onEarthdependantona dietofalgae,

andthereforeadaptedtoforageat sea.

Thespecieshasa fewtrickstohelpit

copewithwhatcanbea challenging

environment,butperhapsthemost

impressiveis itsabilitytoshrinkits

skeletonbyupto 20 percentwhen

algaeis dramaticallyreducedbyEl

Niño.It’sa bitlikemebecomingas

shortascomedianRonnieCorbettwhen

foodis sparse.Toradicallydecreaseyour

bodysize,andthereforeyourenergy

demands,is a perfectsurvivaltool.

What’sbeenyourmost

memorable

encounter?

Whilestaying

inthe

Galápagos

in2000,

smotheringthereefs.Theyalso

transportnutrientsfromseato

landwhentheyexcrete.

Dotheyfaceanythreats?

Climatechangemayradically affect

theirdiet,andasananimal that

essentiallyeatsonetypeof algae –

whichis sensitivetowatertemperature

• that’sa realissue.Increasing
  tourism,pollution(themost recent
  oilspillintheGalápagosoccurred
  offSanCristóbalIslandinDecember
  2019),lossofhabitatandpredation
  byintroducedpredatorssuch as cats,
  dogsandrats,alsotaketheir toll.

Howisthearchipelago being

protected?

MuchoftheworkoftheGalapagos

ConservationTrustinvolves rewilding,

theeradicationofinvasiveanimals and

reintroductionofendemicand native

species.TheGalápagosIslands have

seensomeoftheworstenvironmental

excessesofman,buttheyalso offer

a chancetoshowthatwecan right

thesewrongs.Getit righthere, and

thesamemodelcanberolled out in

otherislandgroups.

WILDLIFECHAMPION

VIEWPOINT

I came across a

marine iguana lying

in front of the door

of my shoreside

hut. I didn’t know

what to do with

the large ‘draft

excluder’. In the

end, I eased it aside with a f lip-f lop

and received a good blast of salt for

mytroubles.Marineiguanas expel

excesssaltfromglands near their

nosesbysneezing.To me, it also

seemstobetheirway of expressing

displeasureif a human gets too

close:I’vediscoveredthis response

workswellat a dinner party.

Whyaretheyimportant

totheecosystem?

Thearchipelagoactually has

relativelylowspecies diversity

• everyanimalis precious in
  thisdelicatelybalanced island
  environment. By
  grazing on marine
  algae, the iguanas
  prevent it from

The expert view

Genetic studies have revealed

that most islands have their own

subspecies of marine iguana – San

Cristóbal Island even has two. All of

these subspecies are important for maintaining

the genetic diversity of the species as a whole.

Preserving this diversity is vital, as it supports

the species in adapting to environmental

changes brought about by human actions.

Dr Amy MacLeod uses drones to help monitor

marine iguanas: amy-macleod.com/drones

I easeditaside

withaip-op

andreceived

agoodblast

ofsaltfor

mytroubles.

S

T

Monty and iguana (top): Monty Halls; iguana (bottom): Joseph Sullivan and GCT

Interview by Kristina Turner