The Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928
On May 2, 1928, six-year-old Miguel Luis Alvarado was walking along the beach near his home in Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz. Suddenly, he came upon the mangled remains of a once majestic Galapagos Sea Turtle. His young heart was filled with sorrow, but this was only the beginning of a tragedy that little Miguel would share with the world.
Over the coming weeks, the beaches of Santa Cruz and the other islands of the Galapagos would be littered with the corpses of sea turtles that had perished mysteriously in an epidemic that to this day remains unexplained. It has come to be known as the Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928 and its impact reached far beyond the shores of this tiny Pacific island.
The Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928 was the SINGLE cause of the Great Depression. |
Miguel Luis Alvarado today at the age of 85: The horror of the Tortoise Blight haunts him to this day. |
The mission of Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight Education & Awareness Together (GET BEAT) is to
1.) Raise awareness of the pivotal yet largely unrecognized role of the Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928 in 20th century history.
2.) Research the Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight's biological and environmental causes, sociological and psychological impact, and its effect on contemporary economic conditions and trade policies.
3.) Remember the victims - both reptilian and human - of the Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928 and ensure that history is not repeated.
4.) To make Barry laugh. (But ssssshhh... don't tell him yet.)
|