Leaving a Legacy

By Angelina Katsanis

The marine life of the Galápagos islands are under constant threat; threat by human captures, threat by invasive species, threat by microplastics and pollution. This late into the climate crisis, it is up to the next generation to learn from the previous generations’ mistakes and fix the problems left in the wake of decades of plastic abuse and environmental destruction on the marine animals of the Galápagos.

Juan Pablo Muñoz and Daniela Alarcón are two married marine biologists on San Cristóbal island committed to just that. Much of their research involves on-the-ground health assessments of animals, including tagging turtles, testing for micro plastics in blood samples, and tracking previously-tagged turtles.
And students are always involved in this work.

“I love working with the students,” Juan Pablo said. “This is the entire world’s problem, and the more young people to see with their own eyes the problems here, the better chance we have of fixing them.” Through their own work and the knowledge they pass on to students and their 5-year old daughter Brisa, they work every day to make both the Galápagos and the greater Earth a more sustainable home for the future of animals and humans alike.

Juan Pablo stands over a turtle framed by the arms of student researchers who are attending to the turtle on the table.

A team of students from N.C. State came for a week in March to assist Juan Pablo and Daniela with their work. “I love working with the students,” Juan Pablo said. “This is the entire world’s problem, and the more young people come to see with their own eyes the problems here, the better chances we have of fixing them.”

Two close up vertical images of Juan Pablo and Daniela. Half of Juan Pablo's face is visible as he bends down to belevel with the sea turtle he is examining. Daniela focuses as she drops a tag from the turtle into a small vial with tweezers.

Juan Pablo takes delicate care in tagging the fin of one of the turtles, while Daniela deposits skin samples into a test tube. Together, the two have tagged and collected data for over 800 sea turtles in the archipelago, and every new sample helps further build the team’s knowledge on the species. The blood samples will be researched to discover different blood types of the turtles and how transfusion can be possible, while other samples and measurements help track the overall health of the turtles.

The team works on taking measurements after Juan Pablo has stepped back. This is their fifth turtle of the day and he is hoping they have learned enough to carry out the experiments on their own.

juan pablo, daniela, and their daughter bride sit on rocks by the beach and fly a drone

The family congregates in an alcove near the water to capture drone images of the island at sunset on March 13, 2022. They both use the drone in their research, primarily for spotting whales and conducting image analysis technology to extract data about the whales and calculate their sizes.

Brisa pointing to her drawing on the bulletin board at school while her mother smiles behind her.

Brisa proudly shows her mother her art work from the day, pointing to a paper that says, “¿Dónde me siento?” Or, “Where do I feel?” Unlike the other students, Brisa says she feels “everywhere.”

Daniela and Brisa emerge from the arbor of trees that shelter their home. Being ecologists and environmentalists, the couple wanted to live in and rebuild a sustainable home that respects the land rather than takes from it.

Daniela walks ahead of Brisa who runs to keep pace as they emerge from an arbor of trees.

Aguas is the co-producer of the first environmental law in the country of Ecuador. He is also the author of a proposal for the decentralization of the State and social participation in the processes of state management in the Galápagos Islands. “Nature requires that society have a conscience so that it can be maintained and let's say eternally for generations to come,” said Aguas, “that is why we continue where we would like the new generations to take on the challenge of promoting these discussions, these debates that allow us to have an adequate, different model and that guarantees that the lagoon will be in conscientious form.”

Brisa climbs down a rock and leans toward her mother with plastic in hand. Daniela's hands are in the corner of the frame holding a large bag of plastic trash.

Everywhere the family goes, Brisa has her parents wait for her to pick up all the trash in the are before continuing on. “She’s a great kid. We don’t even tell her to do this,” Daniela said.

Daniela hauls a large bag of plastics down steep stairs in a black camisole and baseball hat.

Daniela brings in the previous day's haul of plastic pollution into the Galapagos Science Center. As part of Juan Pablo’s thesis, he and Daniela, often accompanied by students, do routine beach clean-ups and take all the contents they collect to the labs to log them and piece together an understanding of where the plastic comes from.

Daniela maneuvers around rows of plastic bottles laid out on the floor carrying a bag with more plastics at her side.

All of the plastics from this day came from a small, 30-minute clean-up session in a 50-yard span of the remote beach Puerto Tablas. Many of the bottles weren’t local, but instead washed up from countries as far away as Japan. “People don’t understand that this is the entire world’s problem. Even if we have zero waste on the Galápagos, the ocean knows no borders and other countries’ litter will wash up on our shores,” Daniela explains.

After a long day in the field chasing turtles, the day is still not over. Juan Pablo instructs a student on what to do next with the blood samples they collected.

Juan Pablo instructs a student researcher in the Galapagos Science Center lab space.

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Daniela flips an omelet in the air for a hungry Brisa in their home on March 16, 2022. Home life and work life has always been a delicate balance for the family. “It’s not easy,” Dani said, “Being a mother. Being a woman in science. I’m always running around.”

Brisa laying her head on her pink backpack as her father, Juan, works beside her in the lab.

Being the daughter of two scientists is no easy job, and Brisa ends up spending a lot of time at the lab herself after school as her parents finish up their long days.

Daniela holds a pan as she smiles at her omelet in mid-air. Brisa looks on while propped up on a wooden ladder separating the living room from the kitchen.

Daniela flips an omelet in the air for a hungry Brisa in their home on March 16, 2022. Home life and work life has always been a delicate balance for the family. “It’s not easy,” Dani said, “Being a mother. Being a woman in science. I’m always running around.”

Three of Brisa's watercolor drawings are displayed on the wall, pinned to a small cork board.

Miniature watercolor paintings hang at the entrance to the family’s home. Daniela’s father, Diego Alarcón, painted most of the artwork on display in the house.

One of the two research boats headed to Puerto Tablas for another field day on March 15, 2022.

A research boat speeding past a rock in the distance framed by the rope on Juan Pablo's boat

One of the two research boats headed to Puerto Tablas for another field day on March 15, 2022.

Juan Pablo and a four other students carry a turtle while standing on their boat.

Students help Juan Pablo carry a particularly restless green sea turtle from one boat to the other before commencing the series of health assessments.

A side profile of Juan Pablo gazing out into the ocean, wearing a white collared shirt and black sunglasses.

Juan Pablo gazes into the open ocean as the team is on their way to Puerto Tablas for a third day of sea turtle work on March 15, 2022. “These remote parts of the island are all so beautiful. But in the most isolated places in the Galápagos – no tourism, no fishing, no nothing – they are still full of trash. Absolutely full.”

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