MARCHENA ISLAND

Marchena Island (English name: Bindloe) is a near pristine island in the northern part of the archipelago, and has a land area of 130 square kilometres with an elevation of 343 metres. It is formed of a low shield volcano, and the last known eruption occurred in 1991. Only 25% of the total land area is covered in vegetation.

There aren't any visitor's sites on this island, although it is possible to dive in the waters around Marchena on organised tours.

The introduced fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata) colonised eight of the larger islands in Galapagos, including Marchena where it was first discovered in 1988, between 35 and 70 years ago. It is thought that the ant would have been present in food, plants and in soil transported between the inhabited islands, and for uninhabited islands like Marchena may have been present in camping equipment used by scientists and rangers, or have travelled there on rafts of vegetation. In 2001, an intensive campaign began to eradicate the fire ant from Marchena. In 2003 no trace of the fire ants were found, and monitoring will continue for another 2 years to ensure the ant has been completely eradicated.

..Top