A ship from the environmental organization Greenpeace documented this Monday the spectacular eruption of the La Cumbre volcano, on Fernandina Island, in the Galapagos.
Eruption of the La Cumbre volcano, on Fernandina Island, in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), on March 4, 2024.
Aboard the Arctic Sunrise, the ship of the environmental organization Greenpeace, scientists documented the evolution of the eruption of the La Cumbre volcano, on Fernandina Island, on Monday, March 4, 2024.
Fernandina is the youngest island in the Galapagos archipelago.
The volcano erupted on the night of March 2 and the lava has flowed down the northern and eastern flank, without having yet reached the sea, as confirmed by the Greenpeace ship, a few meters from Fernandina Island.
The ship, which is on a scientific expedition about marine life, diverted its initial course slightly towards the north of the Galapagos to document the eruption, which occurred four years after the last eruptive period, which occurred in 2020.
According to the Geophysical Institute, “the duration of the eruption cannot be precisely predicted, nor whether it will reach the seashore, but according to the data on the deformation of the volcano accumulated since the last eruptive period, it is likely that the current eruption is greater than those observed in 2017, 2018 and 2020″.
What was seen on the tour
The Arctic Sunrise arrived in front of Fernandina around 03:00 local time, and in the darkness of the night a long lava path could be seen from La Cumbre , which resembled a very long and illuminated road when you land on the night in a big city.
The deep orange of the lava from the Fernandina volcano was reflected in the still waters of the Pacific.
From the boat, with hardly any wind and a temperature of about 26 degrees, one could see that the lava from the volcano marked its passage in Fernandina under a sky adorned with stars.
While in the sea, small illuminations were seen that came and went , like fireflies in the mountains, and which according to Charles Darwin Station (CDF) oceanographer, Stuart Banks, came from plankton.
The silence of the early morning, interrupted only by the shots of the cameras, also allowed us to hear the leap of what Banks believes could have been penguins, dolphins, sea lions, cormorants, tunas… “it could be many things,” Banks assured.
A young volcano
Surrounded by a cloud of gases, La Cumbre, which rises to 1,476 meters above sea level, reminded scientists of the volcanic origin of the Galapagos archipelago, cataloged since 1978 as a natural heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
The captain of the Arctic Sunrise, Mike Finken, explained to EFE that Fernandina Island is less than a million years old, which is why it is known as a young volcano that has erupted relatively constantly over the last few years. For this reason, it is monitored by the authorities of the Galapagos National Park.
For its part, the National Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology (Inmahi) shared satellite images of the eruptive process of the La Cumbre volcano. Lava emission can be seen on the island and ash heading towards the west and southwest.
