Rábida Island

Rábida or Rabida Island (Spanish: Isla Rábida) is one of the Galápagos Islands. It is 5 km² (1.9 sq mi) in area.

Rábida Island
(Jervis Island)

Rábida Island
Geography
Location	Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Coordinates	0°24′58″S 90°42′39″W / 0.416245°S 90.710897°W / -0.416245; -90.710897
Archipelago	Galápagos Islands
Highest elevation	367 m (1204 ft)
Administration
Ecuador

Panorama of Rábida Island.

Cove on the northern side of Rábida Island.

Names

Rábida ([ˈraβiða]) is the Spanish word for a ribat, a medieval Islamic guardpost used figuratively for Sufi monasteries and Islamic nunneries.

It was previously named Jervis Island (/ˈdʒɜːrvɪs, ˈdʒɑːr-/) by British captain James Colnett in 1793 in honor of John Jervis, the martinet admiral who later defeated the French Navy at Cape St. Vincent during the Napoleonic Wars.^[1]

Geography

Rabida is one of the Galápagos Islands,^[2][3] located south of Santiago Island, northeast of Isabela Island, and northwest of Santa Cruz.

Wildlife

 

Brown pelican on red sand.

In addition to flamingos and the bachelor sea lion colony, pelicans, white-cheeked pintails, boobies, and nine species of finch have been reported.^[4] The rich wildlife attracts a number of tourist cruises.

In 1971, the Galápagos National Park Service successfully eradicated goats from Rábida as this introduced species upset the natural environment and led to the extinction of several native creatures including geckos, land iguanas, and rice rats.

In January 2011, invasive rodents were removed from the island by the Galápagos National Park staff, assisted by Island Conservation to benefit Galapagos penguins and Scalesia stewartii (a tree-forming daisy and the plant equivalent of one of Darwin's finches).^[5]

References

Citations

1. McEwen (1988), p. 239.
2. Eaton, Caroline (August 7, 2014). "The Red Beaches of Rabida Island". ecoventura.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
3. "Rábida". Galapagos Conservancy. galapagos.org. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
4. "RÁBIDA ISLAND (JERVIS), GALAPAGOS". animalcorner.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
5. "Galápagos Restoration Project Achieves Conservation Milestone". Retrieved 6 November 2018.

Bibliography

• McEwen, Alec (July 1988), "The English Place-Names of the Galápagos", The Geographical Journal, vol. 154, London: Royal Geographical Society, pp. 234–242, doi:10.2307/633849, JSTOR 633849.