Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands on February…

Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands on February 12, 1832, naming it Archipelago of Ecuador.

This is a new name that adds to several names that had been, and are still, used to refer to the archipelago.

James Colnett, who had made a description of the flora and fauna of the Galápagos Islands in 1793, had suggested that the islands could be used as base for the whalers operating in the Pacific Ocean.

He also drew the first accurate navigation charts of the islands.

Whalers have since killed and captured thousands of the Galápagos tortoises to extract their fat.

The tortoises can also be kept on board ship as a means of providing of fresh protein as these animals could survive for several months on board without any food or water.

The hunting of the tortoises has been responsible for greatly diminishing, and in some cases eliminating, certain species.

Along with whalers come the fur-seal hunters who have brought the population of this animal close to extinction.