At age 22, young Darwin found an opportunity to sail around the world on board the surveying vessel, the HMS Beagle, as a companion to captain Robert Fitzroy, leaving temporarily aside his education at Christ College, Cambridge.
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A journey initially estimated by Fitzroy to last three years, was on its fourth year and had one more to go before the HMS Beagle would return to England in 1836. Five years that would reshape Darwinâs way of understanding natural history, and produce his masterpiece years later, which turned into one of the most revolutionary ideas of human thinking.
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The HMS Beagle finished producing the navigational charts of parts of the southern South American coast, when Fitzroy decided to stop briefly at an archipelago that had just been claimed by the young Ecuadorian Nation. This stop was merely a technical one, as the Galápagos Islands were known only for being the last place to fill water tanks and collect food when crossing the Pacific Ocean.
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Once in Galapagos, the HMS Beagle stayed five weeks, calling at only four islands, where Darwin spent very little time. Initially disappointed by the arid vegetation, Darwinâs fascination grew with every new day in Galápagos. Here he made a large collection of flora, fauna and minerals. Years later, upon closer analysis by him and other leading scientists, differences and similarities became evident among some terrestrial bird species, that until now remain as icons of evolution and even bear his name, the Darwin Finches.
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In 2009, Galapagos will be the Center of Celebrations, as several important dates will come together: 200 years of Charles Darwinâs birth, 150 years of the publication of his book, âThe Origin of Speciesâ, and 50 years of the Galápagos National Park creation.
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We also offer Tours to Ecuador and Galapagos Islands Tours
Gonzalo Alvarez
Tags: Beagle
What do you think of my persuasive essay?
Can you point out any grammatical mistakes?
Or maybe some suggestions?
It is self evident that mankind is blatantly abusing and wreaking havoc on Mother Nature when they should rightfully be grateful for her kindness and return the favor. Man’s misuse is now reaching its climax, and it is unbearably hard to overlook what they’re doing. One example of the effect of their maltreatment is the endangered Galapagos Penguin. Galapagos Penguins live just north of the equator, on the Isabella and Galapagos islands. Less than 1,000 breeding pairs remain nowadays, and Galapagos Penguins are put to the brink of extinction due to the misconducts of humanity. Specifically, oil spills and introduced animals caused by man kind are the two major threats to these blameless penguins.
First off, oil spill is one of the causes engendered by humanity that caused the Galapagos Penguins to be endangered. Animal rights activists say “40,000 penguins are estimated to be killed by oil pollution along the coast of Argentina every year.” According to the International Penguin Conservation Work Group, an organization which aims on promoting penguin conservation worldwide, not only does oiling cause penguins’ eggs to die or deform, but it also affects the food chain by contributing to a reduction in the penguin’s prey. A repulsive fact of oil pollution is that most of the oil spill are caused by deliberately operational discharges, which oil tankers discharge oily water into the sea before loading up with fresh oil, simply because it’s time consuming.
Additionally, animals introduced by humans pose threat to many lives of the rare Galapagos Penguins. Such animals are feral cats, dogs and rats. According to MarineBio, a nonprofit volunteer marine conservation and science education group since 1998, “penguins may mate as often as every 6 months. Female penguins lay 1-2 eggs each season.” Galapagos Penguins are slow breeders. Thus, because of introduced animals attacking the vulnerable chicks and eggs, the entire population could fail to breed at all.
However, not all of us are inflicting harm on the Galapagos Penguins. In fact, some people group and organizations are striving to preserve the lives of these penguins. Conservationists and ecologists say it is yet late to regret our deeds and we can make amends for the brutality some of us struck on these innocent, guiltless penguins. To settle this problem, there are two practical solutions that will turn out effective if we act promptly.
One solution is, according to Anthony Palmiotti, director of education at the SUNY Maritime College who teaches oil spill cleanup, “Training and more training helps prevent accidents.” Training officers must ensure that formal instruction is provided to key personnel who maintain and operate pollution control equipment. This will preclude oil spills from happening by reducing the chance of oily water getting discharged into the sea. A key point to keep in mind is that employers must to hire trustworthy workers so that oil spills won’t occur due to one’s laziness.
Another solution is to establish eradication and control programs for introduced animals. According to Charles Darwin Foundation, an association which has the world’s largest eradication/restoration program, these programs will “contribute to the restoration of the Galapagos ecosystem.” Such programs will improve the survival of Galapagos Penguins by balancing the population of introduced animals such as cats or dogs.
We humans are obliged to help the endangered Galapagos Penguins from becoming extinct. It is unfair that these creatures suffer from our selfishness and ruthlessness. Some of us are doing a marvelous job in attempting to preserve the Galapagos Penguins, but many of us can surely do more. All of us must try to be more heedful and altruistic, so oil spills will not occur by accident or by our laziness. The least we can do is become aware of this problem and support those who struggle to resolve this difficulty. If ecologists, conservationists, and all of us follow the steps aforementioned, we will be able to inhibit Galapagos Penguins from becoming extinct. Nevertheless, we don’t have time to even hesitate for a fraction of a second. Every minute passing by is another minute fraught with danger to the Galapagos Penguins. We must act to rescue these penguins, and we must act now!
you need to indent when you start another paragraph.
References :
Good paper! I like it!
One thing I would like to point out (though I don’t know if it applies with it being a quote) is that numbers should be written out if they are under a hundred.
"First off, oil spill is one of the causes engendered by humanity that caused the Galapagos Penguins to be endangered. "
Something about the two ’causes’ in the sentence. Maybe change one to a synonym? ‘Induced’ is a good choice.
"A repulsive fact of oil pollution is that most of the oil spills are caused by deliberately operational discharges, which means that oil tankers discharge oily water into the sea before loading up with fresh oil simply because it’s time consuming."
Again, maybe change the second discharge? Unload, empty, release..?
This is all I really saw. Just trying to help out. You don’t have to change them, but I do think it sounds better and makes you sound even more bright when you use different words.
References :
http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/a/numbers.htm
http://www.synonym.com/