Several weeks ago, I began my internship with Dr. Luis Vinueza at the Galapagos Science Center. Our first project was particularly time sensitive, so Professor Vinueza made sure that we focused on this research since the opportunity presented itself. In the past few years, Dr. Vinueza has been taking GPS data of sea lion Zalophus wollebaeki, and marine iguanas', Amblyrhyn chuscristatus, locations around the coast of San Cristobal Island. He collects this data periodically to see how the spatial distribution of these species may change with different anthropogenic factors as well as different climatic events. During the first two weeks of May 2015, the Galapagos experienced two intense storms, comprised of harsh wave action that destroyed much of the commercial boardwalk and coastal vegetation. It sunk several boats in Wreck Bay, the island’s primary port, and unearthed sewage lines, among many other effects. Of course, because of all these physical damages, many of these central, charismatic species were also displaced as their typical coastal habitats were altered.
Following the storm, we attempted to examine the effects of increased wave action on the distribution of sea lions and marine iguanas by using GPS devices to record the placement of the species. One of the driving forces behind this research is that in recent years, many scientists have linked the increase in frequency and intensity of storms and tropical cyclones to the warming and changing climate (Chu, 2013) . Currently, in our research we are working on compiling the new data into Geographic Information Systems maps to compare the placement of species post-storm against a more typical species distribution. Figure 1 below shows one of the pre-storm distribution maps we created with data taken in late April. During our post-storm field work, we trekked through the same set of coastal areas to gather data.